: 216 

E56 




ACCOUNT 




LESLIE'S RETREAT 



NORTH BRIDGE, ON SUNDAY, FEBY 26, 1775. \ 



■J 



BY CIIAKLES M. ENDICOTT. 



PRO ARIS ET FOCIS. 



1 'J^V^ ' 



SALEM : 

WM. IVES AND GEO. W. PEASE PRINTERS. 

OBSERrER OFFICE. 

185G. 




ERRATUM. 

Page 1 — for February 28 read February 26. 



Jfrom tlje €m% ^mtihk 



ACCOUNT 



LESLIE^S RETREAT 



AT THE NORTH BRIDGE, IN Ml¥M, 



ON SUNDAY, FEB'Y 26, 1775. 



BY CHARLES M. ENDICOTT. 



PRO ARIS ET FOCIS. 



[ From the Proceedings of the Essex lustitute. 1 



SALEM: 

WM. IVES AND GEO. W. PEAKE FRINTKRS. 
0BSEK7EB OFFICE. 

1856. 



w 



C' >u 



LESLIE'S RETREAT: 

OR THE 

RESISTxVNCE TO BRITISH ARMS, 

AT THE NORTH BRIDGE IN SALEM, 
ON SUNDAY, P. M., FEBRUARY 2^, 1775. 



[Note. It is much to be regretted, that antiquarian research, had not 
been directed to this affair, before the principal actors in the scene were 
gathered to their fathers. Before the task was undertaken by any one, 
the twilight of uncertainty had cast its shadows over a large portion of 
the incidents connected with it, and the night of forgetfulness, we have 
reason to conclude, had also shrouded many in total oblivion. Tlie 
fragments spared by the hand of time, beside the very imperfect 
accounts published at the period, are now only met with in tradition 
or upon the trembling lips of extreme old age, which 

" Tells what it knows, as if it knew it not, 
And what it remembers, seems to have forgot." 

The following account however is believed to embrace all the 
principal facts in the case ; and we have endeavored to cull from the 
materials in our possession such as appeared the most authentic and 
reliable ; and to avoid as much as possible drawing upon the imagina- 
tion of others, or of our own, at the risk of making the account tame 
and uninteresting.] 

" PRO ARIS ET FOCIS."' 

Salem, the mother of the Massachusetts Colonj, and the 
oldest town, save Plymouth, within the present jurisdiction of 
the commonwealth, was rich in historical interest long before 
the period of the American Revolution. In her soil were 
imprinted the first footsteps of the Massachusetts Colony. She 



was the first to receive upon her shores, a few persecuted nnd 
care worn emigrants, the avant coitriers of liberty, from the 
far off British Isle, voluntary exiles from the civilized world, 
bent upon the accomplishment of a noble enterprise, but without 
home or shelter Avberc to recruit their exhausted strength after 
the usual privations and sufferings experienced by landsmen on 
a protracted sea voyage. Here, amid the solitude of the pri- 
meval forests, Avere heard the first sounds of civilized life in the 
colony. Here, upon the skirts of the same dark and forbidding 
forests, and in fearful proximity to their remorseless 'tenants, 
were seen slowly rising the first rude log cabins and mud 
hovels of the settlers, scarcely deserving the name of human 
habitations, being inferior in many respects to tiie wigwams of 
the native savages. 

" Their brown log huts peered rudely forth, 

Mid copse and thicket gray ; 
With fragile tents, that scarcely kept 

The mocking storms at bay." 

Here Avere j)lanted the first cornfields, and here were made the 
first graves. Here famine and pestilent disease stalked abroad 
at noon day, numbering among their victims, during the first 
winter, nearly one half the entire population. Beneath her 
soil repose the sainted remains of the Lady Arbella, and the 
pious and godlike Higginson. Here was established the first 
independent church, the mother of all the congregational 
churches in New England, and Jiere was organized the first 
civil and ecclesiastical government in the " Mattachusetts."' 
Here, the bold, excentric, persecuted Roger Williams, sustained 
by the people of Salem, stood manfully forth in defence of his 
peculiar views of religious freedom and liberty of conscience, 
jf/ie/'e the energetic, ill-fated Hugh Peters, "reasoned of right- 
eousness, temperance and judgment to come,'' while the neigh- 
boring hills resounded with the glad tidings of the gospel.* 
Here the choleric magistrate flourished aloft his trusty rapier, 
and regardless of personal consequences, struck the first blow 
in defiance of Royal authority, by cutting the offending cross 
from the King's colours. 



* His first sermon here was preached at Enon, now Wenham, but 
then a part of Salem. The place of his preaching was on a hill which 
overlooked a spacious pond. — FeWs Annals. 



At M subsequent period it was litre tlmt dire delusion, 
witchcraft, with all its train of mournful consequences, tilling 
so dark a page in New England history, first developed itself. 
Salem, it is true, enjoys no enviable notoriety from this 
cii'cumstance, yet it serves to strengthen the interest created by 
other facts, in her early history. 

Dropping do\Yn nearly another century of time, we find her 
entering with her whole heart and soul into the issue then 
pending with the mother country, and furnishing her full share 
of the interesting incidents which distinguished the first dawning 
of the American Revolution. Here too we claim, the first blow- 
was struck in the war of independence, by open resistance to 
both the civil and military power of the mother country ; 
comparatively bloodless, it is true, but not the less firm and 
decided. All the events of that eventful period have long since 
become matters of history, and comparatively nothing can noAv 
be added to the facts already elicited by the historian. But of 
individual deeds of heroic valor and reckless daring, Avhich 
distinguished our fathers in that fearful struggle, the half has 
never yet been written. Scarcely an octogenarian is now met 
with, who cannot tell a thrilling tale of the adventures of a 
father or brother, the bare recital of which, even at this distance 
of time, will "chill the blood and harrow up the soul." The 
opportunities to gather up the fragmentary and yet unwritten 
incidents in the lives of those brave men are becoming every 
day more rare, and ere long will have passed away forever. 
The grave is fast closinji over the few remaining actors in those 
scenes. How many interesting facts will thus soon be lost to 
history, despite all the efforts to elicit and preserve them ! 

For a better understanding of the event in all its bearings, 
which we propose to relate, let us look for a moment at the 
situation, of the country at that time, and for a few years 
antecedent ; and also at the state of feeling of the inhabitants of 
Salem, consequent thereupon :— 

The disputes between Great Britain and her American 
Colonies had been carried on with little or no intermission for 
a period of ten years. The most prominent and exciting of 
these disputes, was the right claimed by England to tax the 
colonies for the benefit of the British treasury. It had been at 
times agitated in Parliament for upwards of twenty-five years. 
In 1739, a scheme for this purpose was opposed by Sir Bobert 
AValpolc, then the Prime minister. At length in the spring of 
1765 the Parlianioit. liaving previously levied duties on all 



goods imported into the colonies from such of the West India 
Islands as did not belong to Great Britain, made the first move 
in the hazardous game, on the issue of which were staked the 
destinies of the American people by the passage of the odious 
stamp act. When the news of this fact reached the colonies, it 
produced the utmost commotion. In Boston, the bells of the 
churches were first muffled, and then made to send forth the 
most solemn peals. This was succeeded by outbreaks of the 
people, in Avhich the officers of the crown were severely handled 
and their property in several instances destroyed. Salem shared 
with other toAvns in their detestation of this measure, but no 
violence was committed here. She contented herself with pro- 
testing against it in the Legislature, as " very injurious to lib- 
erty, since we are therein taxed without our consent, having no 
representation in Parliament.-' 

This act was, however, rendered entirely inoperative by the 
resistance of the Colonies, and after its repeal, the calm of a 
few months, which followed, was again disturbed by the passage 
of the revenue act of 1767, which imposed heavy duties on 
glass, paper, painter's colors, and teas. The colonies at once 
resolved to abstain from the use of all foreign commodities as 
far as possible. By this step the imports from Great Britain 
in one year were decreased in amount nearly four millions of 
dollars, and the revenue from America decreased from five 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars to one hundred and fifty. 
Salem was among the foremost to declare in favor of this policy. 
Massachusetts issued a circular to the other colonies denounc- 
ing this oppressive measure, which on being desired by the 
King through the Royal Governor to rescind, the House by a 
vote of 92 to 17 refused to obey him. These were called the 
"glorious 92,'' and " infiimous 17." Salem, indignant that 
her two representatives had voted with the minority, called a 
town meeting and passed a vote of thanks to the majority, in 
the following Avords :— " Voted, that the said town do thank the 
Hon. House for their firmness and resolution shown in main- 
taining our just rights and liberties."* The places of the gen- 
tlemen who had thus voted with the minority were the next year 
filled by others more friendly to the cause of liberty, f Only a 
kmd of truce followed the partial repeal of that act in 1770, 



* Essex Gazette files, August 2, 1768. 

f Richard Derby, jr. and John Pickering, jr. 



;> 



the duty on teas being still reserved. This exception was 
made by Great Britain to show the colonies that she did not 
relinquish the lirinciple^ that she possessed the right to tax 
them. This scheme so far from appeasmg the colonists served 
only to keep alive their jealousy. Throughout the country the 
use of tea was not only strictly prohibited, but destroyed wher- 
ever found or exposed for sale. In Salem a quantity was, on 
one occasion, taken from a store, strewed about the streets, and 
the package, which had contained it, ignominiously consigned to 
the public whipping post. Bonfires, to the no small amuse- 
ment of the children, were also not unfrequently made of it. 
An octogenarian, now living, relates that he can vividly remem- 
ber the burning of a quantity in Court street, in which the late 
Walter Price Bartlett took a leading part. He was passing a 
store, in front of which he observed a collection of combustibles, 
when he saw a gentleman handsomely dressed, with a determin- 
ed look and face the color of crimson, bring out in his arms a 
package of the odious tea, place it upon the pile and ignite the 
mass with his own hands. This he afterwards learned was 
Mr. Bartlett. Three hundred and sixty of her citizens, mostly 
iieads of families, immediately signed an agreement to abstain 
from the use of this herb, aucl these were afterwards joined by 
several others.* Finally, the destruction of a quantity of this 
article in Boston harbor, in December, 1773, was followed by 
an act of Parliament to close the Port of Boston and remove 
the Custom House and its dependencies to Salem. This was 
known as the Boston Port Bill. It was supported by the 
Lords Mansfield, Gower, Littleton, Weymouth and Suffolk ; 
and was opposed by the Dukes of Richmond and Manchester, 
the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Campden, and the Earls of 
Shelburne, Temple and Stairs. The debates were long and 
warm. A measure of such deep aggression towards Boston, 
the principal seaport of Massachusetts, called forth the indigna- 
tion of all the other colonies who sympathised deeply with her 
on the occasion. Salem, on whose interests this measure was 
calculated to have a favorable influence by directing the course 
of trade to her port, possessed too much magnanimity to raise 
her fortune on the ruin of her suffering neighbors, and at a 
town meeting in May, 1774, she voted that in her opinion, " if 
the colonies would stop all exports to, and imports from Great 



* Essex Gazette files. Mav 8, 1770. 



Britain aliJ her West Iiulia Islautls, until the act for closini^ 
the port of Boston is repealed, the same would prove the salva- 
tion of North America and her liberties." The right to refuse 
and resist parliamentary taxation was the universal conviction 
throughout the country. The more the people thought, read 
or reflected, the more they were convinced of its injustice. 
The ruling powers of Great Britain, on their part, insisted up- 
on the right to demand and enforce submission to it. A stand- 
ing army was in consequence stationed in Massachusetts, at the 
sight of which the people felt insulted, — aye, — degraded, and 
every feeling of patriotism and manhood revolted.* 

The next aggressive measure of the Parliament, which pas- 
sed both bodies by large majorities, was an " Act for the better 
regulating of the government of the Province of Massachusetts 
Bay." This step, taken in the mere wantonness of tyranny, 
appeared the concentration of every thing, which malevolence 
could invent to degrade and oppress the children of the 
soil. By it the whole executive government was taken out of 
the hands of the people. The Royal Governor was clothed 
with supreme power, and his council Avas to be appointed by the 
crown. The Governor could appoint and remove the judges of 
the several courts of justice and all other officers, thereunto 
appertaining. Nothing could be expected from men holding 
situations during the pleasure of the Governor, but to be the 
ready instruments of arbitrary power. Town meetings of the 
inhabitants were strictly forbidden to be held Avithout leave first 
obtained in writing from the Governor or Lieut. Governor. It 
having been anticipated, that this act might occasion riots, it 
Avas further provided, that if in the attempted execution of these 
laM'S the people resisted so as to cause the death of any one, Avho 
was assisting to enforce them, such persons should be transport- 
ed to another colony, or to England, for trial. These inhuman 
measures, taken together, were justly considered by the colon- 
ists a complete system of tyranny, from the operation of which 
it was impossible to make a peaceable escape. The alternative 
Avas plainly sub)ni-isio)i or the bayonet. They reduced the 
people to a state of the most degraded vassalage. The friends 



* In July, 177-1, there Averc stationed in Boston two companies of the 
Koyal Train Artillery, with eight pieces of cannon each, and the 4th, 
5th, 38th, 4od and 64t]i British regiments; aud it Avas stated that more 
Avcrc daily expected. 



of the rights of humanity every where were aroused. The wo- 
men also stood forward in this hour of tlieir country's peril, and 
like their spartan sisterhood of old, encouraged, by their pre- 
sence and council, the sterner sex to acts of resistance. Nor 
was this state of feeling confined wholly to this country. A 
lady in London thus expressed herself to her f)-iends in Bos- 
ton :* 

" The unhapp}'- afiairs of Boston, now lay near my heart! From my 
soul I feel for Boston and for all America. I Was in the Parliament 
House and heard tlie Port Bill brouglit in and read. 

"A bill is this day passed to destroy your trade, and another is 
bringing; in to subvert your Avliole constitution of governjuent. Expect 
no mercy from them. For tlie love of your country and posterity, for 
the love of justice, and for God's sake, use all your powers to prevent 
your town's submission. Tell them to hold out only six months and all 
will be well. England will rise on the occasion. 

" Stop all trade, he silext, he strong, be resolute. Their plan 
was kept secret through fear that had it been known, the Parliament 
Jlouse would have l)ocn destroyed. Depend on my intelligence to be 
good. Stand it out, or die 1 If you give up you are undone ! Call your 
people iogethcr, alann them — rou'^e them — call on them to humble themselves 
before God, by fasting and prayer , that the intended blow may be mere fully 
averted from America ! 

"All letters are to be stopp3d — all Governors are to be changed — 
thre3 hundred tax men are coming over — all officers are to be sent from 
England — Juries taken away — a large fleet to frighten you into com- 
pliance." 

These were the sentiments in '• thou o-hts that breath and 
words that burn," of noble, magnanimous, sympathising woman. 

Such was the state of affairs and of public feeling when Gov. 
Gage, who had recently succeeded Gov. Hutchinson, convened 
the Provincial x\ssembly at Salem, which had now become the 
metropolis, on the 7th June, 1774. Their place of meeting 
was the To^vn House, then situated on the south eastern corner 
of Washington and Essex streets. It was a wooden building, 
two stories high, of no architectural pretensions, the chambers 
being occupied by the courts of justice, and the whole area of 
the lower story, which Avas supported by columns, was used as 
a town hall. It was usual for the inhabitants at that period to 
congregate at this place, for the purposes of gossip, to arrange 
any matter of business, or to discuss the more grave and impor- 



* Essex Gazette tiles, June 14, 1774. 



trtnt political events of the clay as occasion niiglit arise. AYitli- 
in the walls of this [ilain and simple council house, consecrated 
to the cause of liberty by the eloquence of many a bold, zeal- 
ous, and uncompromising patriot, scenes of the most thrilling 
interest had been frequently enacted during the last ten years. 
Every oppressive measure, devised by the British Parliament 
to humble and degrade the American colonies, had here been 
warmly and earnestly discussed. Its walls had often shaken 
with denunciations of the wicked policy pursued by the mother 
country. Here the " sons of liberty,"' as the patriots were 
called, smarting under the rod of the oppressor, " in clear bell- 
tones of deepest meaning," branded every timid and vacillating 
advocate and apologist of arbitrary power with the name of 
tory^ a name full of reproach and infamy. For the glorious 
associations which would have hallowed this simple building, 
in which was taken the first step which ultimately led to the 
independence of America, would it had been preserved from the 
destroying elements, and the still more fatal hand of man. — 
Between the royal Governor and the body now assembled here, 
altercations were constantly occurring, and the session lastetl 
only ten days. Loyalty had so far lost its influence, and power 
its terrors, that the House immediately proceeded in secret, by 
a self constituted committee, to consider the crisis in which it 
found the country, and to propose certain resolutions. Pi-evi- 
ously to disclosing these measures, the doors of the House were 
locked and a vote passed that no one should be allowed to enter 
or depart, until a final determination was had upon the import- 
ant questions before them. Information, however, of these bold 
proceedings was secretely conveyed to Governor Gage by one 
of the members, who, under pretence of indisposition, obtained 
leave to withdraw. The Governor forthwith dispatched his 
Secretary, Thomas Flucker, to dissolve the court. When he 
arrived at the house he found the doors barred, and admittance 
refused him. He was consequently obliged to read the procla- 
mation for their dissolution on the stairs outside the door. The 
assembly, however, did not heed it, but continued its session in 
defiance of the proclamation, until it had passed resolutions, de- 
claring it expedient that the several colonies should choose 
committees to meet in a General Congress at Philadelphia, in 
September next, to deliberate upon the condition of the coun- 
try, — appointed its own delegates for that purpose, and addres- 
sed letters, signed by the Speaker, to the other colonies, re- 



a 

questing their concuiTencc in this measure.* Troops, it is 
said, were ordered up from the fort to enforce obedience to tlie 
proclamation, who having marched most of the distance, again 
returned. On the 18th of the same month, the day after the 
House had been dissolved, a protest against the Boston Port 
Bill, signed by one hundred and twenty-five of the most influ- 
ential merchants and traders of Salem, was presented to the 
Governor. This protest has ever been admired for its spirit 
and the generosity of its sentiments.f 

In July, by order of Governor Gage, two companies of the 
G4th regiment came here by water from Boston. They landed 
and marched through the town to the Governor's head-quarters 
in Danvers, then the country residence of Robert Hooper, of 
Marblehead, an eminent merchant, familiarly known in those 



* "We say this was the first step ivJiich ultimately Jed to the indcfcnclencc 
of America. By this wo mean that our independence was the final 
result of the deliberation of such a meeting as is here for the first time 
definitely proposed — namely, — a General Congress. We are aware that 
in some of the colonies suggestions of independence had already been 
loosely and vaguely thrown out l)y certain individuals in the heat of 
debate, but the colonies separately could effect nothing towards it, and 
it was only by the concentrated action and united efforts of the whole 
together, that any thing like independence would ever have been at- 
tempted. The avowed object of the Congress here proposed, we know to 
have been " the restoration of union and harmony between Great 
Britain and the Colonies ; " but if this had been the real motive in the 
minds of those who proposed this measure, why the observance of so 
much secrecy "? Viewed in this light only, there was no taint of treason 
about it. " The fact is," to quote the language of Graham in his 
history of the United States, " all the ardent friends of America, all 
the partizans of Great Britain, and all, in short, except those whose 
penetration was obscured by divided hope and purpose, plainly perceived 
that the formation of a genci'al deliberative council for America, at a 
crisis like the present, as it was an essential requisite, was also a bold 
and deliberative approximation to united revolt." Therefore, we repeat, 
that as our independence was the result of the action of a general Con- 
gress of all the Colonies thus assembled, it was here, in Salem, the first,, 
the initiatory step, which led to that great event, was taken at this time. 
Out of 129 members present, only 111 voted against it. The names of 
11 of those who opposed it were published at the time in the 
Essex Gazette. Next to the building where the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was consummated, no spot more richly deserves a monument 
than that of the once humble " Town House''' of Salem. 

f For the names of the persons who signed this protest see Esses 
Gazette files, June 2l8t, 1774. 

2 



10 

(lays as '' King Hooper. " The 59tli regiment.* under Colonel 
Hamilton, also arrived here in August, from Halifax, and 
encamped upon Winter Island, near the fort. It was the object 
of Gage, by this manoeuvre, to suppress by force of arms any 
further attempts for liberty on the part of the inhabitants. In 
August a fruitless effort was made by the Governor to prevent 
a town meeting in Salem, called to choose delegates to meet in 
Convention at Ipswich, "to consider and determine on such 
measures as the late acts of Parliament, and our other grievan- 
ces render necessary and expedient." A proclamation was 
issued, and troops ordered to be in readiness, who w^ere prepared 
as if for battle, and eighty of them marched to within one- 
eighth of a mile of the Town House, but to no purpose. The 
people of Salem could not be prevented exercising their just 
rights either by threats or the exhibition of force. In fact, all 
the powers of government were apparently annihilated. There 
Avas not a judge, justice of the peace, or sheriff, who would 
venture to withstand the inflamed and determined people ; and 
British bayonets had also lost both their terrors and their influ- 
ence. In March, 1775, the celebrated Edmund Burke remarked, 
in the House of Commons, " a vast province has now subsisted, 



* This regiment was afterwards in the battle of Bunker Hill, and 
suffered severely in common with other British troops. Of the 
subsequent history of Colonel Hamilton, we have the following from 
Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, which, although there may be none 
now among us who remember the Colonel, may still possess some histor- 
ical interest : 

" Robert Hamilton, Sheriff of Lanarkshire, and afterwards one of the 
Clerks of Session, was a particular favorite with Scott — first, among 
many other good reasons, because he had been a soldier in his youth, 
had fought gallantly, and had been wounded severely in the American 
war, and was a very Uncle Toby in military enthusiasm ; secondly, 
because he was a brother antiquary of the genuine Monkbarns breed : 
thirdly, (and last, not least,) because he was, in spite of the example of 
the head of his name and race, a steady tory. Mr. Hamilton sent for 
Scott when upon his death-bed in 1831, and desired him to choose and 
carry off as a parting memorial, any article he liked in his collection of 
arms. Sir Walter (by this time sorely shattered in his own health,) 
selected the sword with which his good friend had been begirt at Bunker 

Of Colonel Hamilton's imperturbable good nature, Sir Walter relates 
the following : — 

" A laugh with Hamilton, whose gout keeps him stationary at Ler- 
wick, but whose good humor defies gout and every other provocation, 
concludes the evening." 



11 

and subsisted in a considerable degree of iiealth and vigor, for 
near a twelve month, -without governor, without public council, 
■without judges, Avithout executive magistrates." 

The Ipswich Convention passed, among others, the following 
resolve : — 

" Though above all things (slavery excepted,) we deprecate 
the evils of a civil war, yet, if the violence and despotism of our 
enemies should finally reduce us to the sad necessity, we, 
undaunted, are ready to appeal to the last resort of States, and 
will, in support of our rights, encounter even death, sensible 
that he can never die too soon who lays down his life in support 
of the laws and liberties of his county." 

The Salem representatives were now empowered, with other 
members of the House, to resolve themselves into a Provincial 
Congress, which was recommended by the Ipswich Convention. 
On the 1st of September, Governor Gage ordered another 
meeting of the Legislature in Salem, to take place on the fifth 
of October; and the several towns throughout the Province 
elected their representatives accordingly ; but on the 28th he 
adjourned it indefinitely, convinced, no doubt, of the determina- 
tion of the people to resist at any hazard the late aggressive 
acts of Parliament. Notwithstanding this interdiction, the 
Legislature did convene at the appointed time in Salem, " there 
to be qualified, according to charter, for taking seats and acting 
as representatives in said Great and General Court ; but were 
not met by the Governor or other constitutional ofiicers, by 
him appointed foV administering the usual oaths and qualifying 
them thereto." Whereupon, having waited one day, they chose 
John Hancock chairman, and Benjamin Lincoln clerk, and 
passed resolutions declaring the course of the Governor in 
adjourning the House before it had first "met and convened," 
to be unconstitutional, and "against the express words, as well 
as the true sense and meaning, of the charter." They then 
resolved themselves into a Congress, and adjourned to meet at 
Concord on the 11th of October following. 

Governor Gage had already removed his head-quarters to 
Boston, having left Danvers on the 27th August, and was 
followed by the 59th regiment from this town, and the two 
companies of the 64th from his late head-quarters, on the 10th 
September. The former were stationed on Boston Neck, at 
the entrance of the town, where they threw up entrenchments, 
and where the most hostile preparations were carried on. 

The deputies from most of the colonies met at the appointed 
time in Philadelphia. They approbated the stand taken by 



12 

Massacliuscits : -- addvesscd a letter to Governor Gage ; published 
a declaration of ]-iglits ; fonucd an association not to import 
or use goods of British manufacture ; sent a petition to the 
king ; an address to the inhabitants of Great Britain ; another 
to the inhabitants of Canada ; and another to the inhabitants of 
the Colonies. 

The cxporitation of all military stores to America had been 
strictly forbidden by order of the King in Council ; and every 
vessel, of what nation soever, was liable to be seized if employed 
in carrying thither arms and amunition. The country was 
sadly deficient in all the munitions of war, and the Massachu- 
setts Committee of Safety, now considered the executive of the 
Province, was therefore collecting them through their agents 
from every quarter where tliey could be obtained. This, how- 
ever, was done as quietly and secretly as possible. A quantity 
of powder in the arsenal at Charlestown had recently been 
seized by Governor Gage, in pursuance of a late order of the 
King. This produced great excitement tliroughout the Colony. 
About the middle of December, 1774, a report also reached 
Salem that a regiment of troops had em^barked the preceding 
Sabbath in Boston, said to be destined for this place for the 
purpose of " arresting, detaining and securing gunpowder." 
This, however, was a false alarm. 

The people Avere also industriously collecting arms for them- 
selves, whei'cver and from whomsoever they could obtain them. 
Every patriot held, with Macbriar, that '• well is he who shall 
barter his house for a helmet, and sell his garment for a sword ; " 
and several shameful outrages were committed by the British 
in Boston upon persons charged with the crime of attempting 
to purchase a musket. 

The year 1775 was ushered in without any improvement in 
the condition of the oppressed and down-trodden colonists. Dark 
and portentous clouds hung thickly about their political horizon, 
indicating that a fearful storm was not far distant. The petition 
of the Philadelphia Congress to the King had proved an entire 
failure. It was treated with silent neglect. The repeal of a 
few acts of Parliament would then have satisfied America, 
and her independence would have been a plant of later growth. 
The idea of dissolving the tie which united them with the 
mother country appears scarcely to have been entertained at that 
time. The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, seven days 
after the battle of Lexington, uses the following language . — 
"But they [the ministers,] have not yet detached us from our 
Royal Sovereign. We profess to be his loyal and dutiful 



13 

{subjects, and so hardly dealt with as wo have been, arc still 
ready with our lives and fortunes, to defend his person, family, 
crown and dignity." England, however, manifested no dispo- 
sition to relax her iron sway over her comparatively weak and 
feeble dependencies ; but appeared determined to try the issue 
by an appeal to arms. Troops were distributed throughout the 
country to overawe and intimidate the inhabitants ; and be 
ready to quell any demonstrations of resistance. The colonists 
on their part had scarcely any thing to oppose to a powerful 
nation whose strength and resources appeared unlimited, except 
a righteous cause, and fixed determination, never ignominiously 
to submit to her despotic control. The most sanguine, however, 
could not have promised themselves a successful result, from 
an open rupture and actual collision with the mother country. 
England too, in the plenitude of her power, could not believe 
that the colonists would actually buckle on the panoply of war 
against her. It was unfortunate that all the colonial govern- 
ors sympathized with the mother country, in her attempt to 
extort a revenue out of the provinces. This was the root of all 
the evil then entailed upon them.* Governor Hutchinson 
stated that the colonists would not by force of arms resist the 
authority and powers of Great Britain; "that a feio troops 
would be sufficient to quell them if they did make opposition." 
Oovernor Carlton represented "that America might easily be 
conquered, but they would Avant a considerable army for this 
purpose ; that he would not pretend to march to New York or 
Boston without 10,000 men." Governor Tryan said, " It would 
take large armies and much time to bring America to their 
feet." " The power of Great Britain," said he, " is equal to 
anything ; but all that power must be exerted before they put 
the monster in chains." The colonists were not however dis- 
couraged by these representations : they trusted their cause to 
the God of battles, not to human strength — they believed 
heaven itself would fight for them as the stars in their courses 
fought against Sisera — resistance to tyranny, being in their 
view, obedience to God. 

Salem, at the commencement of the Revolutionary war, 
contained a population of some 5000 souls. Her commerce, 
always the principal source of wealth, was then chiefly confined 
to Spain, Portugal, and the West Indies. The cod fishery, to 



* Edmund Burke, iu the House of Commons, Marcli 9th, 1774, advised 
a thorough change of American Governors, remarking, " that the folly of 
the present had brought on the mischkfa of which we now complain.^' 



14 

a considerable extent, was also carried on successfully from the 
town at that period, and some fifty sail of vessels, principally 
schooners, were employed in that business. The fish Avere 
cured upon the southern banks of the North River, and the 
flakes extended from the neighborhood of the North Bridge, to 
the present location of Conant street. Here was often presented 
a busy, active, enlivening scene. But the vengeance of the 
British ministry Avas about to visit even this humble branch of 
industry, with its blighting eifects. A bill prohibiting the 
New England Provinces from fishing for a certain time, upon 
the banks of Newfoundland, was passed during the month of 
March, 1775. This measure was calculated to bear particu- 
larly hard upon the interests of Salem, whose commerce was 
almost wholly sustained by the fishery. Her inhabitants 
generally were a frugal, industrious, enterprising people, re- 
markable for their sagacity and intelligence, with a keen sense 
of their just rights, and an indomitable love of liberty; ready 
to peril life, pi-operty, and all they held dear in her cause. 
Strange as it may appear, at this day, there was also found here 
a small sprinkling of the friends of arbitrary power,* some of 
whom, from constitutional timidity, perhaps, dreaded a contest 
with Great Britain, and the fearful consequences which would 
overwhelm the country in case of defeat. 

Foremost am.ong the friends of liberty, and the resolute and 
daring enemies of oppression and arbritary power, stood Captain 
John Felt, who, without any disparagement to others, appears 
entitled to the distinction of the hero of the British repulse at 
the North Field Bridge. He was at this time about fifty 
years of age. His frame, square, strong and muscular, denoted 
him a man, whom it would be the part of prudence to avoid 
in single combat. Salem possessed many men whose social 
position in life was perhaps superior ; — men of wealth — of more 
erudition — of more influence in her public councils ; — but none 
of greater moral worth, or irreproachable private character. 
He belonged to that class thus elegantly apostrophized by the 
poet : — 

" Heart of the people — Working Men ! 
Marrow and nerve of human poAvers ; 
Who on your sturdy backs sustain, 
Through streaming time this World of Ours." 

* Wc ibrbcar to specify them ; their names can mostly be found 
prefixed to an address to Governor Cage on his arrival in Salem, in 
Juno, 1774. Sec Essex Gazette iiles, June Htli, 1774-. 



15 

His love of independence, and hatred of tyranny, had slionc 
through his Avliole life, and Avith these fjualities was blended the 
most intrepid resolution. There lived no one in "whose heart 
glowed a Avarmer love for the liberties of his country — and 
none more ready to peril, and if need be, to sacrifice his life in 
support of her cause. In a word, he Avas just the man for an 
emergency; of cool, determined bravery, — calm and collected 
in the hour of danger. These qualities inspired every one Avith 
confidence in his ability successfully to control, and direct any 
daring enterprise, or forlorn hope, which his inclination prompted 
him to lead- 

Among other prominent friends of liberty — men of standing, 
weight of character, and influence, was Colonel David Mason, 
universally esteemed and respected by his felloAV tOAvnsmen. 
He Avas a native of Boston, but for the last nine years had been 
a resident of Salem. He was a self made man ; one of nature's 
nobility ; courtly and refined in manners and address. In 
early life he manifested great fondness for learning, and a 
public education Avas contemplated for him. But the death of 
his father Avhen he was but fourteen years of age, defeated this 
purpose. The inquiring mind of young Mason, and his thirst 
for knowledge, could not however be checked by this disap- 
pointment. Although apprenticed to a mechanical trade, he 
made himself proficient in the science of military tactics and 
gunnery, for Avhich he had' great taste, and in due time received 
an appointment and served as lieutenant of British Artillery in 
the French war in Canada in 1756. He commanded a battery 
of brass cannon at Fort Wm. Henry, in 1757, Avhen it Avas 
taken by the French, and fired the last ball in that fort. In 
1763, he organized and commanded an artillery company in 
Boston, which it is believed is still in commission. PreA^iously 
to entering the army he had also studied the then newly discov- 
ered science of electricity, Dr. Franklin having been a particu- 
lar friend in his father's family. He had lectured upon that 
subject in Boston, Salem, and elscAvhere, and made some valu- 
able discoveries, AA^hich he Avas prevailed upon to journey to 
Philadelphia, to communicate to Dr. Franklin. He had shown 
himself on all occasions, Avhen the expression of public and 
private opinion was called for, a consistent and high minded 
patriot. His active mind was constantly employed either in 
promoting directly the cause of his country, or in subverting the 
iniquitous schemes and stratagems of its oppressors. He Avas 
appointed by his t0A\'nsmen one of a committee to prevent tea 



16 

from being brought into Salem, and was instrumental m discov- 
ering and destroying it on one or more occasions. 

Salem also possessed at this time, many other prominent sons 
of liberty, Avho were distinguished for their high minded patri- 
otism, their inj&uence, and the esteem of their fellow citizens. 
Among them, I need only mention Timothy Pickering, jr., 
then recently chosen colonel of the first Essex regiment. He 
was ever active in stimulating and encouraging his townsmen 
to resist all the attempts of Great Britain to grind their liberties 
beneath the iron heel of despotism. Through the various 
public offices afterward filled by Mr. Pickering, the whole 
country has been made familiar with the uncompromising 
integrity of his character. 

In November, 1774, Colonel Mason received an appointment 
of Engineer from the "Massachusetts Committee of Safety," 
which his memoir states to have been the first military appoint- 
ment in the Revolutionary War. He was from this time, 
actively engaged in collecting military stores for the use of the 
country, and making secret preparation for the approaching 
contest, which now appeared inevitable. His memoir further 
relates, that in prosecution of this design he purchased a number 
of cannon (believed to be seventeen,*) from Mr. Derby, of 
Salem, which he committed to the care of Captain Robert 
Foster, a blacksmith, to afiix the iron work to the carriages, 
and have them otherwise properly prepared for the service of 
resisting British aggression, if occasion should require. They 
were twelve-pounders, and had originally belonged to the 
French, in Nova Scotia, from whence they were brought after 
the war there, and were captured, as it was understood, from 
the enemy. The work shop of Captain Foster was on the 
north side of the North River, over which was a draw-bridge, 
and the cannon were secreted in and about the premises as 
securely as circumstances would permit. Five thousand flannel 
cartridges were also prepared for these cannon by the wife and 
daughters of Colonel Mason. 

About the last of February, 1775, a number of these carriages 
were completedf and the guns mounted. Intelligence of this 



* Mr. Samuel Gray states the number to have been twelve. 

t A portion of these carriages were made at the New Mills, in 
Dauvers. 



17 

fact, and Avliat was fnrthov c;oing on under tlic direction of 
Colonel Mason, was communicated, according to the Memoir, to 
the head-quarters of British power in Boston, by the treachery 
of an " old countryman," employed by Colonel Mason.* It 
would appear that suspicion rested upon several other individuals, 
some of Avhom came out in the public ncAvspapers with a denial 
of the charge. Upon this information. General Gage ordered 
the 64th regiment, consisting of some three hundred men, which 
was stationed at the Castle, in Boston Harbor, under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Colonel Leslie, an estimable officer, to 
embark forthwith* on board a transport, land at Marblehead, 
and from thence march to Salem and take possession of the 
rebel cannon in the name of His Majesty. The better to effect 
his purpose, the Sabbath, so often desecrated by military move- 
ments, was selected for this expedition. The time thus chosen, 
aside from other considerations, did not well accord with a 
proclamation recently issued, by this same Governor, for the 
encouragement of piety and virtue. The regiment embarked 
on board the transport two hours after sunset on Saturday even- 
ing, to avoid discovery, but it was designed not to reach Salem 
until the next day. At the appointed time, therefore, being the 
26th of February, 1775, during divine service in the after- 
noon, while the inhabitants were unsuspectingly resting in the 
apparent security of the day, their ears were startled with the 
cry of 

" The foo ! they come ! they come ! '' 

which now suddenly reverberated through the otherwise quiet 
streets of Salem. Intelligence was received from the citizens 
of Marblehead, that a body of British troops had just landed 
there, and was marching in the direction of Salem. " A trans- 
port," says an account published at the time, " had arrived at 
Marblehead, manned as usual. Between two and three o'clock, 



* Wo are inclined to doubt if the intelligence was communicated in 
this way. If, as the Memoir states, the " old countryman," left Salem on 
this errand on Saturday afternoon, (no doubt on foot,) he could not 
have reached Boston to inform Governor Gage the same night, in season 
for him to send orders to the Castle, and have the regiment despatched 
" two hours after sun-set," as appears to have been the case. Our own 
opinion is, either Sargent, or the " young tory lawyer,^' whose name was 
Samuel Porter, had previously given the information. This Porter, 
came originally from Ipswich, in November, 1773, and had an office 
" just south of the Town House.'' 



18 

(as soon ns tlic people Imd gone to meeting,) the decks were 
covered Vf'ith soldiers, who had been secreted under the liatchcs. 
Having loaded their muskets and fixed their bayonets, they 
landed in great dispatch, and instantly marched oiF. Some 
of the inhabitants, suspecting they were bound for Salem, dis- 
patched several messengers to inform us of it." Colonel Leslie 
took the precaution to land his men at Homan's Cove, upon 
Marblehead Neck, the most retired spot he could well find, in the 
hope that this circumstance, taken in connection with the fact 
of its being the hour of public worship, would shield him from 
discovery, and prevent an alarm. In this, however, he was 
mistaken. No sooner had the troops began to land, than the 
alarm was sounded in the town by a drummer, who ran to the 
door of the church and beat the alarm signal, previously agreed 
upon, at the appearance of any danger. Since the intention of 
Governor Gage to disarm the colonists had become generally 
known, they had been constantly on the alert, knowing that the 
subversion of this scheme depended upon their being vigilant, 
and closely watching the military in all their movements. The 
troops were soon observed coming out of Neck-Lane in single 
file, form upon Bubier's plain, and march in double quick 
time in the direction of Salem, their music playing "Yankee 
Doodle' ' by way of derision. Nothing could have been more inju- 
dicious than this selection of a landing place ; it showed an entire 
ignorance or misconception of the temper and spirit of the inhab- 
itants of the whole Bay, and particularly of Marblehead. 
More ardent lovers of liberty, more devoted friends to the 
interests of their country, or more bitter enemies to the arbi- 
trary power exercised by Great Britain over her colonies, could 
no where be found throughout the length and breadth of the 
whole land. It would have been impossible to select any class 
of men with souls more completely devoted to the welfare of their 
country. The hardy sons of the ocean, who formed a majority of 
the inhabitants, had acquired from the nature of their employ- 
ment, that which is almost inseparable from the usual character 
of seamen, — great self reliance and indomitable independence. 
Marblehead had stood shoulder to shoulder with Salem and 
Boston, against all the oppressive measures recently imposed by 
the mother country. Meetings of the inhabitants had been 
repeatedly held to express their abhorrence of the course now 
pursued by their common enemies. She was among the first 
to join the "Grand Union for the Salvation of Ameri- 
can Liberty," in May of the preceding year. In a letter of 



19 

instructions to licr representative, in June, 1774, after recapit- 
ulating the late oppressive measures of the British Parliament, 
she says, " Americans thus situated, with no other interests 
but what can be granted by the Commons of Great Britain, 
are in a state but little above that of abject slaves on farms 
and plantations. Surely, no men on earth can think these 
measures right ; and heaven itself, the Grand Court to whose 
decrees earthly ones must be subservient, Avill (we confidently 
hope) forbid the execution of them. Do the minions of power 
tell us, not to submit to these measures is death 1 We coolly 
answer, that in our opinions, to submit is infinitely worse than 
death." To Marblehead belongs the honor of being the birth 
place of one of the signers of the Declaration of American Inde- 
pendence. It was wholly fallacious for a moment to suppose, 
that an expedition landing at a place so imbued with the spirit 
of liberty, could be permitted to surprise the inhabitants of 
Salem, or that the news of their approach by such a route Avould 
not precede them. Their chance of success would have been 
far better, had they proceeded by water directly into the harbor 
of Salem. 

Colonel Mason,* who resided in a house near the North Bridge, 
and contiguous to Dr. Barnard's church, was one of the first per- 
sons to whom the tidings of the approach of the British troops 
were communicated. For the purpose of alarming a portion of 
the inhabitants, he ran into the North Church and cried out at 
the top of his voice, " the reg'lars are coming and are now near 
Malloon's Mills ! " The congregation immediately dispersed, 
and the greatest excitement prevailed throughout the town ; 
the intelligence of the approach of the British troops having 



* Perhaps the accounts of individuals who claim for any member of 
their families the almost exclusive management of this whole affair, 
should be received with considerable allowance. Beside the manu- 
script memoir of Colonel Mason, we have seen another, the author of 
which claims for a certain gentleman of Marblehead, of somewhat doubt- 
ful patriotism at the time, the whole credit of apprizing the people of 
Salem of the approach of the British troops, and for the successful 
termination of this encounter. Some recent publications also claim the 
principal credit for Danvers. The author of the " History of Danyers," 
very modestly says : " The people of Danvers, j^owiet? by those of Salem, 
opposed and beat back the foe : " thus representing Salem as acting a 
subordinate part to Danvers in this afiair. In another account we hear 
" what the ■people of Danvers said to Colonel Leslie.'''' The fact is, all 
behaved nobly ou the occasion, and vied with each other who should be 
foremost. 



20 

spread Avitli electric rapidity. All was now liurry and confusion. 
Everyone gazed, with an anxious eye, into the face of his neigh- 
bor as if to read his thoughts. Eells were rung and drums 
were beat to spread the alarm as far and wide as possible. Col. 
Mason mounted his horse and rode with all speed to the place 
of deposit to secure his treasure, — he, and the inhabitants 
generally, suspecting the design of this visit to be the seizure 
of the cannon in North Salem. A desire to do everything that 
could be done, and that instantly, to defeat this purpose, infused 
itself into the soul of every lover of his country; and the 
inhabitants impetuously rushed towards what they believed 
would be the important place of action. To remove as many 
of the guns as the time would permit beyond the reach of the 
troops, and to a place of safety, appeared the universal deter- 
mination of the people. Mr. David Boyce, who lived in a house 
adjoining the North Church, is remembered to have been seen 
hurrying away with his team, and all the truckmen of the town 
were upon the spot without delay. 

Some of the guns were conveyed to the neighborhood of Buf- 
fum's Hill, so called at that time, which is situated westward of 
the main road leading to Danvers, near the present residence of 
General Devereaux, where there was a thick wood, and the dried 
leaves (there being no snow) covered the ground to a considerable 
depth. Beneath these leaves a portion of the guns were hur- 
ried, and the carriages otherwise disposed of. Other portions 
were removed at the time, or a few hours after, to New Mills, 
in Danvers, assisted by teams from that place, and buried in a 
gravel pit on the left of the road; while again, others were 
sent in the direction of " Cole's Spring," or " Orne Point," 
in North Salem.* A gentleman who assisted to remove them 
to Danvers, used to relate, that Avhile sitting at his {ire can- 
not say teci) table, he saw a man with head uncovered,! although 
the day was severely cold, running with all speed towards his 
house. He immediately rose and met him at the door ; — found 
him to be one of his acquaintances, living upwards of a mile 
distant, who immediately exclaimed on seeing him, as W'ell as 
his want of breath would permit, " the reg'lars are in Salem 



* The lato Judge Ilolton, of Danvers, used to state that some of these 
fruus were carried to Burley's Wood, formerly " Lindall's," beyond Dan- 
vers Plains, and there secreted. 

f The lato Mr. Aaron Chccvcr, who was subt-cqucntly in the battle of 

L«sin£!;ton. 



21 

after the guns, tackle up your team viiih all speed, aud help 
carry them beyond their reach." 

The vanguard of the troops had now arrived at the bridge, 
at the southern entrance of the town, where their further pro- 
gress was somewhat impeded, a portion of the plank of the 
bridge having been removed. This however they soon repaired, 
and having marched over, took the direction of Long Wharf, 
marching through what is now Front, Fish and Water streets, 
with a view the better to conceal their real design, while the 
main body which arrived soon afterwards, marched directly to 
the Court House, with loaded muskets, fixed bayonets, colors 
flying, and drums beating, with all the insolent bearing of a 
victorious army entering a conquered city. Here they halted 
for a short time. Mason who had been superintending the 
arrangements for the removal of the cannon, now rode into 
town to watch the movements of the troops. Here he found 
Colonel Leslie in conversation with a "young tory lawyer." 
These two were soon joined by Colonel Sargent,* the half 
brother of Colonel William Browne,^ a mandamus counsellor, 



* John Sargent was a merchant of Salem. His name is at the head 
of those who addressed Governor Gage on his arrival in Salem, in June. 
1774 ; in which address they acknowledge they ' ' are deeply sensible of 
His Majesty's paternal care and affection to this Province in the appoint- 
ment of a person of His Excellency's experience, wisdom, and moderation 
in these troublesome and diiScult times." This was pronounced a most 
contemptible " tory production," which disgraced the public prints. 
Sargent was a notorious tory, and was proscribed in the banishment act 
of 1778. Went to England. 

f Colonel Browne was one of the most prominent inhabitants of Salem, 
and px'cvious to the troubles which led to the Kevolution, enjoyed 
great popularity ; but by espousing the cause of the mother country he 
forfeited all claim to the favorable consideration of the people. He was 
one of ihe "infamous seventeen" rescinders in 1768, — signed the 
address to Governor Hutchinson in 1774, — accepted office under Gov- 
ernor Gage. Upon the breaking out of the Eevolution, he became a 
refugee, and was included in the act of banishment of 1778, and the 
conspiracy act of 1779. His landed estates which were numerous and 
valuable, were all confiscated to the use of the government ; and in 1779 
his homestead, in Salem, wa.s sold to the late Elias Hasket Derby, 
senior, where, in 1799 he erected his princely mansion at an expense of 
eighty thousand dollars, which was taken down in 1815, and near its 
site now stands our City Market House. Colonel Browne, after leaving 
the country, was appointed Governor of Bermuda, and died in England 
in 1802, aged sixty-live. He was a graduate of Harvard College, of the 
<;lass of 1755. ' 



22 

and who had formerly commanded the Essex regiment, but had 
recently been compelled to resign in consequence of his officers 
refusing to serve under him while he held a seat at the council 
board.* Sargent had been observed by some of the inhabitants, 
on the top of his house, near the First Church, and in the 
vicinity of the Court House, waving a white handkerchief as 
the troops approached. Colonel Leslie having received from 
them, as Avas believed, the necessary information as to the local- 
ity of the guns, the troops resumed their march in the direction 
of the North Bridge, obviously anticipating no resistance to the 
successful fulfilment of the enterprise, their bristling bayonets 
and martial bearing apparently defying all opposition from 
peaceful and unarmed citizens. There was now no longer any 
doubt in the minds of the people as to the real object of this 
visit, if the " lanterns, hatchets, pickaxes, spades, handspikes 
and coils of rope," with which the regiment were equipped, had 
not already told the tale. Mason, in all haste, immediately 
returned to his post on the north side of the bridge to concert 
further measures to defeat their design. Captain John Felt, 
in sullen silence, followed close upon the footsteps of Leslie 
from the moment he left the Court House. The troops, 
accompanied by a large concourse of the inhabitants, marched 
through Lynde to North street, and as soon as they came in 
sight from the Bridge, the northern leaf of the draw was 
raised to stop their progress beyond this point. The determi- 
nation of the people to resist with firmness and resolution, at 
the utmost hazard, all attempts of the troops to capture the 
cannon, was thus made manifest. Among the multitude who 
accompanied them to the Bridge was the late amiable and 
highly respected pastor of the North Church, the Reverend 
Thomas Barnard, f to whom the following lines of the poet 

* See Esses Gazette files, October 25th, and November 1st, 1774. 

f The most obnoxious act committed by any of our citizens, was sing- 
ing an approbatory address to Governor Hutchinson on his departure 
from this country, where his tory principles had made it inconvenient 
for him any longer to reside. It was taken for granted that those who 
participated in it approved of the recent acts of Parliament so univer- 
sally and justly odious to all America. Among the number who signed 
it, inconsiderately, perhaps, was the Reverend Mr. Barnard. In May, 
1775, he, with eleven others, of the inhabitants came out with a public 
recantation of the act, and exi^rcssed much contrition therefor. Mr. Bar- 
nard says, " I would request my countrymen to throw the veil of charity 
and foi'givcncss over the incautious act which has led them tu think 



OQ 



Cowper wore peculiarly applicable : 

" Tliere stands the messeno-er of truth : there stands 
The legate of the skies ! whose heart is warm, 
Whoso hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life 
Coincident, exhibit lucid proofs, 
That he is honest in a sacred cause." 

Mr. Barnard was accompanied by his intimate friend and 
parishioner, Mr. Jonathan Gavett. They had left the yard of 
Mr. Gavett's house together as the troops marched up North 
street. His companion being of rather a social nature, had 
been quite intimate with many of the soldiers in Colonel Ham- 
ilton's regiment, which the summer before was stationed at 
Port William, on Winter Island, and he was now curious to 
ascertain if he could recognize any of his old acquaintances 
among the present troops. This desire led him to, scan their 
faces with such nice scrutiny as to give oflence, and he was 
treated as a prying, inquisitive fellow, and jostled and assailed 
with language anything but complimentary. The people who 
had preceded the troops had mostly collected on the north side 
of the river, and now calmly awaited their approach, ready 
to brave a danger which their daring spirits led them to 
undervalue. The compressed lip, the fixed determined look, 
the sober thoughtful demeanor of the inhabitants indicated 
their suppressed indignation, and presaged some fearful tragedy. 
But not a lip was blanched — not a nerve was paralyzed ; — all 
felt that the hour for action had indeed come — that something 
serious was about to be enacted, and that firmness could alone 
secure success. Prompted by the genius of liberty, and smart- 
ing under the tyranny of their oppressors, they were about to 
peril their lives in a contest with well disciplined and veteran 
soldiers, convinced that not one drop of blood spilled in such a 
cause would be lost, but would invigorate the soil and stimulate 
the growth of freedom throughout the land, " till the tiny seed 
became the giant oak." The only arms seen in the hands of any 
one was a brace of pistols peeping out from under the cloak of 



unfavorably of me, and grant me a place in their esteem." These recan- 
tations were considered of so grave a nature, as to be submitted to the 
" Committee of Safety," to obtain from them a certificate that the 
same was satisfactory, and that they recommended such persons to the 
favor of the people. These incidents, " sAow Me very age and body of 
the time, his form and pressure.''^ 



24 

ji person, to my informant iinkno-\yn.^^^ Onward the trooi)S 
pursued their march, apparently ready and able to bear down 
all opposition, their commander not appearing to discern the 
barricade thus raised against him by the people, until within a 
few rods of the open chasm before him. Had a huge boa-con- 
strictor, like the serpent that stopped the army of Atilius Reg- 
ulus, suddenly elevated its head, and extended its capacious 
jaws to receive him, he could not have appeared more surprised 
than at this unexpected obstruction. As soon as he had recov- 
ered his self possession, he demanded in a voice which was 
accustomed to be obeyed, that the leaf should be immediately 
let down. But this command was given to the winds, — the 
assembled multitude utterly disregarded it, and the very draw 
itself, as if participating in the feelings of the inhabitants, and 
conscious of the part it was expected to perform, frowned defi- 
ance. 

The regiment was now brought into line on the "west side of 
the bridge, facing to the eastward. Colonel Sargent, the tory 
informer, had also followed the troops to the bridge with the 
other inhabitants, and when he saw the leaf raised, exclaimed, 
" it is all over with them." " What is all over with them," said 
his companion. He then whispered, " they were going after the 
guns." This man thought it best to absent himself ever after 
from Salem. 

The people on the north side of the bridge had climbed upon 
the top of the upraised leaf by the help of the chains, and there 
set astride, in the language of my informant, ' ' like so many 
hens at roost." The indignation of the Colonel at having his 
design thus suddenly and unexpectedly baffled, was excited 
almost to frenzy, and he gave utterance to his feelings, to saj 

* Mr. Samuel Holman states that " his father's apprentice took his 
gun and equipments under his cloak, saying he would lodge them in 
some private place where he could put his hand on them in case of 
need." Some recent accounts state, that Colonel Pickering, with a 
force of forty armed men, was on the north side of the bridge, where 
also large numbers were rallying around him. This statement is how- 
ever said to be a mistake by persons now living. In fact, Colonel Pick- 
ering must have been gifted with the power of omnipresence on that 
day, to reconcile the conflicting accounts respecting the part taken by 
him in this affair. Beside the statement here referred to, there is 
another, that he was, the while, mustering his regiment in School 
street— and yet another, that he was on the south side of the bridge, 
with Felt, Barnard and others, and that " he scuttled with his own 
hands one of the gondolas." 



the least, in no mild or bccnmini:^ langun2;e: one ncconnt snj's, 
" he stamped and swore, ordering tlic bridge to he immediately 
lowered." Being questioned as to his design in making tliis 
movement, and why he wished to cross the bridge, he replied 
that he had orders to cross it, and he would do so if it cost his 
life, and the lives of his men. Here was however a dilemma 
from which this bravado could not relieve him. To advance 
under the present circumstances Avithout the consent of the in- 
habitants, was impossible, and to retreat, disgrace. In the 
bitterness of his feelings he then went upon West's (now 
Brown's) wharf, to reconnoitre, — closely followed by Captain 
Felt, who was observing every motion and order with the keen, 
unremmitting watchfulness of the tiger, — and turning to an 
officer near him, said, " you must face about this division, (or 
company,) and fire upon those people." These were the 
inhabitants on the northern side of the river, who had collected 
upon a small wharf which jutted out from the eastern side of 
the bridge, conspicuous among Avhom was Captain Robert 
Foster, recently an officer in the Essex regiment, and the owner 
of the premises upon which the cannon had been deposited. 
This order to fire having been overheard by Captain Felt, who 
stood within two yards of Colonel Leslie, " he cried out with a 
loud voice, for his resentment was kindled by the order to fire : 

fire ! you had better be d d than fire ! you have no right 

to fire without further orders ! if you do fire, (said he) you 
will all be dead men ! " Mr. William Northey, a respectable 
citizen of the quaker persuasion, now endeavored to check the 
impetuosity and rashness of Captain Felt, by saying, " do you 
know the danger you are in, surrounded by armed troops, and 
an officer wath a drawn sword in his hand? " But such pru- 
dent caution found no favor in his highly excited mind, and 
was therefore unheeded. He had hurled defiance in the very 
teeth of the instruments of British power and aggression, and 
he w^as not a man to'be induced by any considerations of per- 
sonal peril to retreat from the stand he had taken. This 
language, sustained by the dauntless bearing of its author, acted 
like magic upon the minds of the people in this the hour of 
their danger. So sudden had been the appearance of the troops 
in town, that no concerted plan of operations, and no organized 
opposition had been formed. The inhabitants had hastily col- 
lected together, bent only upon opposing the troops, but with- 
out any acknowledged head to direct them. 
At the moment these words were uttered by Captain Felt, a 
4 



26 

thrill of confidence was felt through the whole multitude. The 
people saw at once that he was just the man for the present 
emergency, and with unanimous, though tacit consent, looked 
to him as their leader in any movement which should be made 
for the further defence of the bridge. He was the spirit on 
whom the crowd now depended. How far such language 
induced Colonel Leslie to use a praiseworthy forbearance 
cannot be determined ; but had the command to fire been en- 
forced, probably not a man of that whole regiment would have 
escaped death, and the first bloody battle of the Revolution 
would have been fought at the North Bridge, on the 26th of 
February, instead of the 19th of April, at Lexington. The 
English account published at the time, stated that the Colonel 
"was not prevented from giving any orders he should have 
thought necessary by the threat of the townsman." However 
this may be, the order was not repeated, and "the company 
neither faced nor fired." 

A desire not to irritate the troops generally prevailed, never- 
theless it was impossible to control the exasperated feelings and 
reckless daring of some of the citizens, who raised their voices 
amid the din of bayonets to anathematize their oppressors, and 
several acts of determined bravery and defiance were exhibited 

by them on the occasion. A citizen, named , who was 

upon the leaf of the draw, cried out in a stentorian voice, " Sol- 
diers^ red jackets^ lobster coats, cowards, da — na — n to your 
goverivment ! " A threat being made to those on the leaf if 
they did not desist in their jeers and opprobrious language they 
should be fired upon, one of them called out, " fire, and be 

d d ! "* It was an extremely cold day, and the soldiers 

by a quick march from Marblehead became quite heated, 
and in the exposed situation where they now stood, the 
perspiration was so suddenly checked, that they trembled 
violently with the cold, when a man named Teague, who was 
also one of the daring spirits on the leaf, jeered them by 
saying, " I should think you were all fiddlers, you shake so." 

It was at this time low water, and three gondolas lay aground 
on the west side of the bridge. Apprehensive they might be used 
by Colonel Leslie for the purpose of transporting his forces to 
the other side, as soon as they were afloat. Captain Felt to whom 
one of them belonged, recommended they should be scut- 



* The late Captain Joshua Ward, 



tied, or rendered useless for that purpose, ])y cutting holes 
through them. This suggestion was enough, and the work of 
destruction was immediately commenced with axes and what 
other implements were found ready at hand. Conspicuous 
among the daring spirits who undertook this task, were observed 
Jonathan Felt, a shipmaster, familiarly known as Hunter Felt, 
and who afterwards commanded an American Privateer, 
Frank Benson, and Joseph Whicher, the foreman in Major 
Sprague's Distillery, which was situated in the immediate vi- 
cinity of the bridge. Colonel Leslie was not an unconcerned 
spectator of this movement, which he knew, if carried into ef- 
fect, would deprive him of his last chance of forcing a passage 
to the other side of the river. He therefore ordered bis soldiers 
into the gondolas to prevent the inhabitants from executing 
their design ; but they pursued their work, totally regardless of 
British bayonets, until it was completed. A scuffle however 
was the consequence, in which both Benson and Whicher were 
observed to open their breasts to the soldiers and dare them to 
use their bayonets. Whicher was sufficiently pricked to draw 
blood, of which wound he was somewhat vain and proud of ex- 
hibiting in after life. 

Col. Leslie had now become thoroughly convinced of the 
determination of the inhabitants to resist, at any hazard, a 
forcible passage over the bridge, and he retired at this stage of 
the affair to the centre of his regiment and summoned his 
officers about him, for the purpose of consultation. It was in 
vain he had attempted to intimidate the people into compliance 
with his request — on the contrary, they were every moment 
becoming bolder and more encouraged, while the patience of the 
troops were fast giving way, and matters appeared verging 
towards a serious conflict. The council of war being ended, 
the commander, still unwilling to abandon the enterprise as 
hopeless, advanced once more and said to the by-standers, "I 
am determined to pass over this bridge before I return to 
Boston, if I remain here until next autumn;" and further 
declared he would make barracks for his troops of the two 
stores on West's, now Brown's wharf, belonging to Wm. West 
and Eben Bickford, until he could effect a passage. Capt. 
Felt, to whom this remark was more particularly addressed, 
answered that " nobody would care for that," — upon which the 
Colonel, nettled no doubt by this expression of contempt, 
replied, "By God I will not be defeated;" to which Felt 
coolly answered, " you must acknowledge that yoU have been 
already baffled." 



28 

And noAV, amid all the uproar, confusion and excitement, 
which bj this time had reached a fearful height, — the angry 
menaces of the troops on the one side and the language of 
defiance on the other, — was heard the firm, but mild and gentle 
voice of the Rev. Mr. Barnard, endeavoring to quiet the billoAvs 
of commotion, thus awakened into their fiercest activity, by 
expostulating with Col. Leslie not to fire "upon these innocent 
people," and " that his troops might be restrained from push- 
ing their bayonets." On being thus addressed, Col. Leslie 
turned short round and inquired " who are you, sir?" Mr. 
Barnard replied, "I am Thomas Barnard, a minister of the 
Gospel and my mission is peace." The Colonel then com- 
plained that his soldiers were much insulted, and expressed his 
determination to cross the bridge, saying he was upon the 
King's highway and w'ould not be prevented from passing freely 
over it. Old Mr. James Barr replied "it is tiot the King's 
highway, — it is a road built by the owners of the lots on the 
other side, and no king, country or tow^n has any control over 
it." The Colonel remarked " there may be two sides to that," 
and Mr. Barr rejoined "Egad I think it will be the best way 
for you to conclude the King has nothing to do with it." 

Upward of an hour and a half had now been consumed in the 
fruitless attempt to pass the bridge, and the day was fast draw- 
ing to a close, without any indication that the sun would be 
commanded ' to stand still in the midst of heaven and hasten 
not to go down,' as was done in Gibeon, ' until they had 
avenged themselves of their enemies.' Threats and bravado 
were therefore laid aside as useless, Col. Leslie being at length 
convinced that it w^ould be the safest and most politic course for 
him to make some overtures towards a compromise, and en- 
deavor to effect by diplomacy, what it was in vain any longer 
to think could be extorted by force. With this in view he 
addressed Capt. Felt, and inquired if he had any authority to 
cause the leaf of the draw to be let down, and was answered 
" there was no anthority in the case, but there might be some 
influence.''^ A conference between the besiegers and besieged 
was the consequence of this suggestion, in which Felt, Barnard, 
Mason and Pickering more particularly participated. Mason 
being upon the northern side of the bridge was mounted during 
the time upon a ladder at the top of the leaf, where he could 
address Col. Leslie, with whom he was personally acquainted. 
This conference resulted in Col. Leslie's pledging his word and 
honor, if the inhabitants would remove the obstruction, he would 



29 

iiiarcli in a peaceable manner not above fifty rods beyond the 
bridge, and then return, without molesting any person or 
property. That his orders were to pass the bridge, and he 
could not disobey them. Intercession was now made with the 
people by Mason and others, that they should accept these 
terms, the word and honor of Col. Leslie, which were unim- 
peachable, being considered sufficient guaranty for their ful- 
filment. Felt, however, was not yet ready to yield to any 
conditions, and when the inhabitants on the north side were 
requested by the Rev. Mr. Barnard to lower the leaf, they 
replied, "We dont know you in the business; — when Felt 
orders it, it will be time enough." There was now however, 
scarcely any danger in allowing the troops a passage free from 
any pledge, as "the geese were flown ;" — the guns having been 
all secured and placed beyond their reach. The preliminaries 
however, being at length settled, the consent of Felt obtained, 
and the distance which the regiment was to march beyond the 
bridge accurately ascertained, the leaf was lowered, and the 
troops (quietly passed over ; marched the stipulated distance, 
then wheeled and set out with all haste on their homeward 
march, having been completely foiled in the object of their 
expedition. On this march, while they were leaving town, 
their music is said to have played " the world's turned upside 
down."* 

The feelings of the inhabitants, not even excepting those of 
the gentler sex, were highly excited by this unceremonious 
appearance of British troops in our streets on the Sabbath, 
and while they were in the act of wheeling, a nurse named 
Sarah Tarrant,! in one of the houses near the termination of 
their route in North Salem, placed herself at the open window, 
notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, and assailed 
them in the following language : — " Go home and tell your 
master he has sent you on a fool's errand, and broken the peace 
of our Sabbath, — what ! do you think we were born in the 
woods to be frightened by owls .^" One of the soldiers pointed 
his musket as if to fire at her, when she exclaimed, " fire if 
you have the courage, but I doubt it." 

* After the troops had left town many of the inhabitants still linger- 
ed about the bridge, and among them the Kev. Mr Barnard, who is said 
by some old people now living, to have remarked, " this is a season for 
the exercise of prayer," and immediately made a very appropriate one 
upon the occasion. 

I This woman died in Salem, May, 1828, aged 85. 



30 

Near the same spot, a solitary individual was seen standing, 
prompt for action in front of his dwelling, Avith his musket at 
his shoulder, and a look of fixed defiance, as if single handed 
and alone he was ready to defend to his last drop of blood, any 
violation of his own or his country's rights by these military 
free-booters. The name of this man was Symonds, who like 
Cuddie Headrigg, appears to have composed the whole infantry 
upon this side of the bridge. 

We have noticed particularly the pertinacious manner in 
which Capt. Felt dogged the footsteps of Col. Leslie from the 
moment he left the Court House, and during all the time he 
was upon the bridge. It was his object, as he afterwards 
avowed, in case the troops had fired upon the people, to grapple 
with the Colonel and jump into the stream, there, like the 
doughty Balfour of Burley, to try the death struggle together, 
— "for," said he, "I would willingly have been drowned 
myself, to have been the death of an Englishman."-]- 

The foregoing are but a few individual instances, the 
concentration and embodiment as it were, of the intensity of 
the bitter feelings of scorn and hatred almost universally 
entertained by the Colonists towards the Military, and the 
desperation to which they were driven by the inhuman acts of 
oppression practiced by their rulers. 

The inhabitants, who were not disposed, from various causes, 
to enter into the conflict, should matters proceed to extremities, 
including the women who always proved themselves in these 
times which tried men's souls, of true Spartan blood, assembled 
on Odell's hill, at the eastward of the road, where they could 
overlook all that was passing at the bridge, and by their cheers, 
waiving of handkerchiefs, and other tokens of encouragement 
to their husbands, fathers and brothers engaged in the melee, 
not to yield to the military, showed that but one spirit actuated 
the entire population. 

Immediately upon the appearance of the troops in Salem, 
expresses were sent out into all parts of the country to spread 
the alarm as far and wide as possible.* On the instant the 

t Captain Felfc subsequently died of a cancer, in Danvers, January 
29th, 1785. 

* In this resi^ect, Mr. Benjamin Daland ia said to have done good 
service. He rode with all speed through the main part of Danvers to 
spread the alarm, and returned by the way of the North Fields, just aa 
the troops were resuming their march homeward, and riding up to the 
Colonel he thus addressed him: — "Well Colonel, I think you have 
done right to march ofl", for in a short time we shall have more men 
here than your soldiers have 1-ce in their heads." 



tidings reached Danvcrs, a company of cavalry mounted their 
horses and rode with all speed in various directions to arouse 
the people to arms, 

" Each with warlike tidings fraught, 
Each from each the signal caught," 

and they were soon pouring in from the neighboring towns 
in great numloers, apparently eager for an encounter. 

Not only in the neighboring towns were the people muster- 
ing, but those situated at 30 or 40 miles distant, soon caught 
the alarm, and were hastening to the scene of action ; so that 
in a short space of time it was estimated that some twelve or 
fifteen thousand men would, without doubt, have been assem- 
bled at this place. 

A company of militia under Capt. Samuel Eppes, of which 
the late venerable Gen. Gideon Foster was 2d lieutenant, arrived 
from Danvers, and took up station near the distillery, where 
they could overlook what was passing at the bridge, and as 
" the reg'lars" marched off, they formed across Federal on tlie 
west side of North street, in double rank, and after the 
regiment had passed, formed in behind, and marched by the 
English music to the boundary of the town in South Salem, 
just beyond the Mills. Many of the inhabitants of Beverly 
arrived at the bridge in hot haste, before the troops had left it, 
impelled by the desire to support their fellow countrymen in 
the unequal contest. 

By the prudence and praise worthy forbearance of Colonel 
Leslie, any serious collision with the troops was happily averted. 
His conduct did not, however meet with the approbation of his 
superiors, and for the failure of this expedition " he was tried 
by a court martial, and cashiered, but was afterwards restored 
to his former rank."* 

On the arrival of the troops at Marblehead they immediately 
embarked on board the transport for Boston. The militia of 
this place, like those in other towns, had also mustered, but 
observing that the troops were disposed to return peaceably, 
they offered them no molestation and made no demonstration of 
triumph.f 

* Mason's Memoir. We think, however, there is some mistake in 
this statement, as no mention is made of it in any of the newspapers of 
the day, which they certainly would not have omitted to publish, had 
it been a fact. 

t The following account is from our late venerable fellow townsman, 
John Howard, then a resident in Marblehead, and who was himself un- 



32 

But the excitement did not immediately cease with the oc- 
casion which gave it birth. We have already said that among 
the inhabitants of Salem, was found a small sprinkling of the 
friends of arbitrary power. After this defeat of the troops, that 
portion of the community were filled with apprehension for 
their personal safety. All who were suspected of aiding in any 
way this attempt to seize the cannon, by giving information or 
otherwise, were anxious to clear themselves of the obloquy, and 
the affair finally passed off without further trouble. Prom the 
following extract of a ballad, which finds its recommendation 
more in the simple truthfulness which appears to pervade the 
narrative than any intrinsic merits, we learn 

" The tories in the town 

Were all put to fright ,• 
Some left their houses 

And others watched all night. 
Prince, he kept close, 

John Sargent, he fled, 

And Grant was afraid 

For to sleep in his bed." 

Thus, on the soil, and from the inhabitants of Salem, the mil- 
itary arrogance of Great Britain received its first check in the 
fearful struggle just then commencing between her and her A mer- 
ican Colonies. Here was spilt the first blood of the Revolution 
after the arrival of Governor Gage. Here was raised the first 
standard of liberty.* The failure of this expedition should have 
convinced the ruling powers of the unconquerable spirit of the 
people, and their resolution to defend, at whatever disparity of 
strength, and at any hazard, their just rights and privileges. 

der arms on the occasion : " There were eight military companies in 
Marblehead at that time, comprising nearly the whole male population, 
between sixteen and sixty years of age. They were all promptly assem- 
bled under Colonel Orne. "^Mr. Howard thinks that they numbered more 
than a thousand men. They were ordered to station themselves behind 
the houses and fences along the road, prepared to fall upon the British 
on their return from Salem, if it should be found that hostile measures 
had been used by them ; but if it should appear that no concerted act of 
violence upon the persons or property of the peojile had been committed, 
they were charged not to show themselves, but to allow the British de- 
tachment to return unmolested to their transport."' — Upharn's 4itk July 
Address, 1842. 

* The Gentleman's Magazine of 17th April, 1775, published in 
London, contains the following : — " By a ship just arrived at Bristol, 
from America, it is reported that the Americans have hoisted their 
standard of liberty at Salem." 



88 

The exhibition or use of military I'orce could not swerve tlicm 
from their purpose ; — they held life cheap in comparison. They 
"were confident of the smiles of heaven upon their efforts to 
break the rod of their oppressors ; and their forbearance already 
tasked to its uttermost, was now ready to give way to open re- 
bellion if their manifold grievances Avere not speedily relieved. 
But justice had fled from the councils of their rulers and op- 
pression had usurped her place. The hearts of their British 
task-masters, like the heart of Pharaoh of old, (and we trust 
for the same wise and benificent purpose,) were hopelessly har- 
dened towards their brethren in the colonies. '■ Deaf "to the 
voice of justice and consanguinity," and blinded by an undue 
estimate of their superior power, they persisted in pursuing 
the same cruel course of policy in defiance of the spirit of de- 
termined opposition exhibited by the people, until it brought 
about the disastrous battle of Lexington, and the standard of 
revolt was finally raised throughout the .land. Then the people 
poured in like an avalanche to the rescue. ' The shepard tar- 
ried no longer by his sheepfold, or the seedsman continued in 
the ploughed field. The footmen came like the rushing of 
winds, and the horsemen came up like the sound of many waters, 
and the passages of the destroyers were stopped, and the face 
of their men of battle were turned to flight. The banner of fi-ee- 
dom was spread abroad upon the mountains ; — heaven Avas Avitli 
them and broke the boAV of the mighty ! ' Finally, after ii 
struggle of upwards of seven long years, the government of 
Great Britain was completely annihilated in the colonies, and 
on its ruin Avas established the Indepe:>'DENCe of these 
United States of America ! 

It is a grave and solemn reflection, that the busy throng 
who filled our streets on this occasion, all bustling Avith life 
and activity, and the brave men Avho breasted the British 
bayonets, in the battles of the Revolution Avhich followed, have 
nearly all disappeared from among us. They were a peculiar 
people, purposely trained and disciplined, Ave belicA-e, by an 
overruling Providence to release our country from the aggra- 
vated wrongs inflicted upon it by its oppressors. We confess 
our admiration of these men rises the more Ave contemplate their 
fearless, independent, daring natures. DoAvn to the Eca-oIu- 
tion, the colonists were loyal and dutiful subjects of Great 
Britain ; and notwithstanding an ocean of three thousand miles 
in width rolled between them and the parent country, they still 
looked to England as their homes. Her glory, her honor, and 



34 

her prosperity thev felt to be essentially their own. They 
were ever ready to' fight her battles and shed their best blood 
in her behalf. But the long continued unholy chastisements 
of a parent's hand had at length alienated their love, and under- 
mined their loyalty : and in defence of what they esteemed 
their inalienable rights, they felt themselves compelled, as their 
last resource, to make bare the arm of flesh against their op- 
pressors. Contending with fearful odds, no dangers were too 
imminent for them to encounter, and no sacrifices, however 
great, to which they did not willingly submit. Who so dead 
to high and generous impulses as not to feel his gratitude en- 
kindled, and his patriotism warmed by the recital of their 
glorious deeds ? Peace to their ashes, and light the soil that 
covers their venerated remains — where honor shall come, 

"a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay, 
And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
To dwell a weeping hermit there." 



APPENDIX. 



The following account of the affair at the North Bridge, was pub- 
lished in the Essex Gazette, under date of Feb. 28, 1775, and is believed 
to have been written by Col. Timothy Pickering : 

" Last Sabbath the peace of the town was disturbed by the coming of a 
regiment of the King's troops, the particulars relative to which are as fol- 
lows. A transport arrived at Marblehead apparently manned as usual. 
Between 2 and 3 o'clock (as soon as the people had gone to meeting) 
the decks were covered with soldiers, who having loaded and iixed their 
bayonets, landed with great dispatch, and instantly marched off. Some 
of the inhabitants suspecting they were bound to Salem to seize some 
materials there preparing for an artillery, dispatched several messengers 
to inform us of it. These materials were at the north side of the North 
River, and to come at them it was necessary to cross a bridge, one part 
of which was made to draw up for the convenience of letting vessels pass 
through. The inhabitants kept a look out for the appearance of the 
troops. The van-guard arrived, and took their route down in town as 
far as the Long-wharf; perhaps to decoy the inhabitants thither, away 
from the place to which the main body were destined. The main body 
arrived soon after and halted a few minutes by the Town-House. It is 
said inquiry was immediately made by some of the officers for a half 



85 

brother of Col. Brown,* the mauJamus counsellor. Be this as it maj', 
he was very soon whispering in the Colonel's ear, in the front of the 
regiment ; and when he parted from the Colonel, the regiment marched 
off with a quick pace, in a direct course for the North Bridge ; just be- 
fore their entrance upon which the draw-bridge was pulled up. The 
regiment however rushed forward till tliey came to the draw-bridge, 
not observing (as it seemed) that it was drawn up. The Colonel who 
led them expressed some surprise : and then turning about, ordered an 
officer to face his company to a body of men standing on a wharf on the 
other side the draw-bridge, and tire. One of our townsmen! (who had 
kept along side the Colonel from the time he marched from the Town- 
House) instantly told him he had better not fire, that he had no right 
to fire without further orders, " and if you do fire (said he) you will be 
all dead men." The company neither faced nor fired. 

The Colonel then retired to the centre of his regiment, assembled 
his officers, and held a consultation ; which being ended the Col- 
onel advanced a little, and declared he would maintain his ground, 
and go over the bridge before he returned, if it were a month first. 
The same townsman replied, he might stay there as long as he 
pleased, no body cared for that. The half brother before mentioned 
(it is said) made towards the bridge, but seeing the draw-bridge up, 
says " it is all over with us." He lias since disappeared. Meanwhile 
two large gondolas that lay aground (for it was low water) were scut- 
tled, lest they should cross the channel in them. But whilst one gen- 
tleman with his assistants was scuttling his own gondola, a party of 
about twenty soldiers jumped into it, and with their bayonets charged 
against our unarmed townsmen (some of Avhom they pricked) compelled 
them to quit it ; but before this a sufficient hole had been made in the 
bottom. This attack of the soldiers, and some other occurrences, occa- 
sioned a little bickering, but by the interposition of some of the inhabi- 
tants the disputes subsided. 

At length some gentlemen asked the Colonel what was his design in 
making this movement and why he Avould cross the bridge? He said he 
had orders to cross it, and he would cross it if he lost his life, with the 
lives of all his men. And now (or before) asked why the King's high- 
way was obstructed? He was told it was not the King's road, but the 
property of the inhabitants, who had a right to do what they pleased 
with it. Finally the Colonel said he must go over ; and if the draw- 
bridge were let down so that he might pass, he pledged his honor he 
would march not above thirty rods beyond it, and then immediately re- 
turn. The regiment had now been on the bridge about an hour and an 
half ; and every thing being secured, the inhabitants directed the draw- 
bridge to be let down. The regiment immediately passed over, marched 
a few rods, returned, and with great expedition went back again to 
Marblehead, where they embarked on board the transport without delay. 
The regiment brought with them, lanthorns, hatchets, pickaxes, spades, 
hand-spikes, and several coils of rope. 

When all the circumstances are considered, there can remain no 
doubt that the sole purpose of the menoeuvre was to steal away the ar- 
tillery materials before mentioned. In the first place the regiment was 
taken from the Castle, so that the inhabitants of Boston might be pre- 

* Col. Sargent. t Capt. John Felt, 



not discovered his intention to ferry over his men in the gondolas ; and 
could not conceive that the soldiers had any other right to interrupt 
their work in cutting the bottoms, than the right of arms, which fre- 
quently regards neither law nor property, when standing in the way of 
their design who wield them." 

The following is also extracted from the same paper . 

" Col. Leslie's ridiculous expedition, on the 2Gth ult., occasioned 
such an alarm, that the people of all the neighboring towns, as well as 
those at 30 or 40 miles distance were mustering, and great numbers ac- 
tually on their march for this place ; so that it is thought not less than 
12 or 15,000 men would have been assembled in this town within 24 
hours after the alarm, had not the precipitate retreat of the troops from 
the drawn-bridge jDrevented it." 



From the Massachusetts Spy of March 2, 1775. 

Mr. Thomas — Please to give the following tra>-slation a place in 
your valuable paper, and oblige yours, LXIV. 

" Ca3sar, though celebrated for an heroic mind, was liable to be be- 
trayed by the villainous toad-eaters at his table, into hw freaks ; in the 
prosecution of which he would sometimes disgrace even his most worthy 
officers, — for such undoubtedly was Caius Lessala. This brave, sensi- 
ble, polite man, was dispatched from Castellinum two hours ajter sun-set 
on the 5th of the Kalends of March (answering to our 25th of February,) 
with near 300 picked men in a galley under verbal orders to land at 
Marmoreum, and proceed to Saleminum while the inhabitants of both 
places were engaged in celebrating a solemn institution. Lessala was 
not to open his written instructions till he reached the causeway. Ho 
conducted the aiFair with a dispatch and propriety worthy of his char- 
acter, expecting to find he had been sent to surprize one of Pompeifs 
fortified magazines. But great indeed was his chagrin when he read 
that his errand was only to roh a private enclosure in the North-Fields 
of that village. He suddenly returned to Castellinum mentioned some 
obstruction of a Fly- Bridge,' and with not a little resentment in his eyes 
told Cajsar that the " geese iverc flown.'''' The base courtiers enjoyed the 
HUM, which they had contrived against the veteran ; and laid their heads 
together Tor a new scheme to dupe Ceesar. 

Vi. Caes. Eds. Americ. Fol. ITTS. 



Mr. WiLLUM Gavett's Account. 

On Sunday, 26th Feb'y, 1775, my father came home from church 
rather sooner than usual which attracted my notice, and said to my 
mother " the reg'lars are come and are marching as fast as they can 
towards the Northfields bridge ;" and looking towards her with a very 
solemn face remarked " I don't know what will be the consequence but 
something very serious, and I wish you to keep the children in." I 
looked out of the window just at this time and saw the troops passing 
the house. My father then stepped out, and stood at the foot of the 



89 

3'ard looking into the street. While there our minister Mr. Barnard 
came along and took my father by the arm, and they walked down to- 
wards the bridge beside "the troops. My father was very intimate with 
Mr. Barnard, but was not a deacon of his church as some accounts state. 
This is all I saw of the affiiir myself; what I was afterwards told, the 
subject being very often discussed iu my hearing for a long time, is as 
follows : 

Col. David Mason had received tidings of the approach of the British 
troops and ran into the North Church, which was contiguous to his 
dwelling, during service in the afternoon, and cried out, at the top of 
his voice, "the reg'Iars are coming after the guns and are now near 
Malloon's Mills." One David Boyce, a quaker, who lived near the 
church, was instantly out with his team to assist in carrying the guns 
out of the reach of the troops, and they were conveyed to the neighbor- 
hood of what was then called Buffum's hill, to the N. W. of the road 
leading to Danvers and near the present estate of Gen Devereux. My 
father looked in between the platoons, as I heard him tell my mo- 
ther, to see if he could recognize any of the soldiers who had been sta- 
tioned at Fort William on the Neck, many of whom were known to 
him, but he could discover no familiar faces — was blackguarded by the 
soldiers for his inquisitivencss, who asked him, with oaths, what he was 
looking after. The northern leaf of the draw was hoisted when the 
troops approached the bridge, which prevented them from going any 
further. Their commander (Col. Leslie) then went upon West's, now 
Brown's, wharf, and Capt. John Felt followed him. He then remark- 
ed to Capt. Felt, or in his hearing, that he should be obliged to fire up- 
on the people on the northern side of the bridge if they did not lower 
the leaf. Capt. Felt told him if the troops did fire they would be all dead 
men, or words to that effect. It was understood afterwards that if the 
troops fired upon the people, Capt. Felt intended to grapple with Col. 
Leslie and jump into the liver, for said he "I would willingly be 
drowned myself to be the death of one Englishman." Mr. Wm. Northey, 
observing the menacing attitude assumed by Capt. Felt, now remarked 
to him, " don't you know the danger you are in opposing armed troops, 
and an ofiicer with a drawn sword in his hand" ? The people soon com- 
menced scuttling two gondolas which lay on the western side of the 
bridge and the. troops 'also got into them to prevent it. One Joseph 
Whicher, the foreman in Col. Sprague's distillery ,was at work scuttling 
the Colonel's gondola, and the soldiers ordered him to desist and threa- 
tened to stab him with their bayonets if he did not — whereupon he 
opened his breast and dared them to strike — they pricked his breast so 
as to draw blood. He was very pjroud of this wound in after life and 
was fond of exhibiting it. 

It was a very cold day, and the soldiers were without any overcoats, 
and shivered excessively, and shew signs of being very cold. Many of 
the inhabitants climbed upon the leaf of the draw and blackguarded the 
troops. Among them was a man, (name not recollected,) M'ho cried 
out as loud as possible, " Sohhcrs, red jackets, lobster coats, cowards, 
d — na — 71^0 your govei-nment 1''^ The inhabitants rebuked him for it, 
and requested nothing should be done to irritate the troops. Colonel 
Leslie now spoke to Mr. Barnard, probably observing by his canoni- 
cal dress, that he was a clergyman, and said, " I will go over this 
bridge before I return to Boston, if I stay here till next autumn.''— 



40 

Mr. Barnard replied, he prayed to lieavon tlierc mij^lit be no eollisiinc 
or words of a similar import. Then the Colonel remarked, he should 
burst into the stores of 'William West, and £ben IVickford, and niakf 
barracks of them for liis troops until he could obtain a passage ; and 
turning to Captain Felt, said, " By God ! I will not 1)3 defeated ; " to 
■which Captain Felt replied, " You must acknowledge you have already 
been baffled." In the course of the debate between Colonel Leslie and 
the inhabitants, the Colonel remarked that he was upon tlie King's 
highway, and would not be prevented passing over the bridge. Old Mr. 
James Barr, an Englishman, and a man of much nerve, then replied to 
him ; " it is not the King's highway, it is a road built by the owners 
of the lots on the other side, and no king, country or town has anything 
to do Avith it." The Colonel replied, •' there may be two words to 
that ;" and Mr. Barr rejoined, " Egad, I think that will l)e the best 
way for you to conclude the King has nothing to do with it." Then 
the Colonel asked Captain Felt if he had any authority to order the 
leaf of the draw to bo lowered, and Captain Felt replied there was no 
authority in the case, but there might be some influence. Colonel Les- 
lie then promised, if they would allow him to pass over the bridge, he 
would march but fifty rods, and return immediately, without trouliling 
or disturbing anything. Captain Felt was at first unwilling to allow 
the troops to pass over on any terms, but at length consented, and 
requested to have the leaf lowered. In this ho was joined l)y Mr. Bar- 
nard and Colonel Pickering, and the leaf was lowered down. The 
troops then passsd over, and marched the distance agreed upon without 
violating their pledge, then wheeled and marched back again, ami con- 
tinued their march though North street, in the direction of Marblehead, 

A nurse, named Sarah Tarrant, in one of the houses near the termi- 
nation of their route, in Northtields, placed herself at the open window, 
and called out to them : — " Go home and tell your master he has sent 
you on a fool's errand, and broken the peace of our Sabbath ; vihat," 
said she, " do you think we were born in the woods, to be frightened by 
owls 1 " One of the soldiers pointed his musket at her, and she ex- 
claimed, " fire if you have the courage, — but I doubt it." 

The inhabitants generally, including the women, congregated on 
OdelFs Hill, where they could see all that was passing at the bridge, and 
waved their handkerchiefs, and cheered the iahabitants in token of 
encouragement, showing that but one spirit animated the wnole mass. 

A company of militia from Danvers, under Captain Samuel Eppes. 
came into town, and went back of Colonel Sprague's distillery, and sat 
down, so as to expose their persons as little as possible, watching the 
movements at the bridge until all was over The account recently pub- 
lished of Colonel Pickering's being on the North side of the bridge 
■with forty armed militia, Mr. Gavett says "is all poetry," it has no 
foundation whatever. The Colonel was on the south side of the bridge 
like any other citizen. In Marblehead a company of militia turned out 
to be ready for any emergency. It was thought that one Colonel 
Sargent had the principal agency in conveying ihe information about 
the guns to General Gage. 

Mr. Gavett feels confident of all the facts stated in the preceding 
account, although in some instances perhaps the exact phraseology may 
be somewhat uncertain. 



41 



Mr. Saml-ei. Cray's Accounl. 

Mr. Gray was at the time in his 10th year — was 10 the n^xt Juno. 
Lived -with his grandmother in St. Peter street. The family had all 
gone to meeting, except himself and grandmother. Was out in the 
yard — while there heard a drum and fife — went in and told the old lady 
of it — she thought he was mistaken — but he was convinced of it and 
took his cap and went in the direction of the music — had reached the 
N. E. corner of Essex and Washington streets, when he saw the troops 
coming round the corner of School, now Washington street, from Mill 
street. They marched up to the Town House and halted a few min- 
utes — does not know what took place there — did not notice any thing in 
particular. When the troops recommenced their march followed close 
to them, was near enough to touch Colonel Leslie most of the time. — 
The Colonel was a fine looking officer, rather stout with agreeable 
features ; followed them through Lynde street to the North Bridge ; 
should think the platoons about twelve -deep, and when they halted at 
the draw of the bridge, they reached from there to Colonel Sprague's 
distillery ; should think there could not have been less than 300 men. 
When they came to order they formed a line on the west side of the 
street facing to the eastward. Saw that the Colonel was quite discon- 
certed to find the draw of the bridge up; noticed his impassioned 
manner, but cannot recollect any thing he said ; don't know that he 
heard any words he uttered. Saw his minister, Mr Barnard, in the 
crowd, and saw him speak with Colonel Leslie ; don't know that he 
heard what he said, but was afterwards told, that Avhen Mr Barnard 
heard the Colonel say that he icould pass the bridge, that he addressed 
him in these words: '• I desire you would not fire on those innocent 
people ;" (meaning those collected on the north side of the bridge,) at 
this Colonel Leslie turned short round and said to him "Who are you, 
sir 1 " Mr. Barnard replied, " I am Thomas Barnard, a minister of the 
gospel, and my mission is peace." Saw three gondolas laying aground ; 
saw the people jump into them for the purpose of scuttling them ; 
recognized Frank Benson and Jonathan Felt — saw Frank Benson open 
his breast to the soldiers ; did not hear what he said. Did not know 
Capt. John Felt at the time, and cannot therefore say anything of my 
own knowledge of the part he took ; knew him afterwards — he was a tall, 
muscular, well-made man ; knew Capt. Robert Foster, and recognized 
him conspicuous among the crowd on the north side of the bridge. 
Colonel Leslie had given some orders, and the soldiers were doing some- 
thing to their muskets ; cannot say what ; but being a small boy it 
frightened him, and he with two or three others about his age, ran off 
and lay down under the fish flakes which covered almost the whole 
southern bank of the river from north bridge to what is now Conant 
street ; did not return ; it was a very cold day, and he was almost 
frozen, while laying down upon the ground under the flakes ; did not 
see the troops leave town. 

The affair caused considerable talk at the time ; heard a great many 
things said ; among them, that Colonel Sargent was seen on the top of 
his house, near the first church, waving his handkerchief and pointing 
in the direction of the north bridge ; he was suspected of having given 

6 



42 

the iuforniation about the guns ; he was alarmed and left the town 
immediately and never returned. Went the day alter the afiair to the 
north fields, where the cannon had been deposited, in the barn of Capt. 
Foster ; stood upon a cannon he found there ; asked why they did not 
carry it away ; was told it was injured — looked round and saw a crack 
in the breech ; asked liow many guns there had been in all, was told 
twelve ; understood they were French pieces, and came from Nova 
Scotia after the late French war ; were guns taken from the French ; 
does not know to whom they belonged previous to being fitted up on 
this occasion. Heard they were distributed in various directions— some 
to Cole's hole, in what is now called Paradise ; others towards Orne's 
point, &c.; were not all carried to one place, for fear if they were 
discovered by the troops they would all be lost. Thfe only arms seen in 
the hands of any one at the bridge was a brace of pistols peeping out 
from under the cloak of a person wljom he did not know. 



With reference to Colonel Pickering and his forty militia men, the 
late Mr. Samuel Holman stated, in a memorandum written by himself : 
" There was no embodying of armed men on our side, and, of course, 
Colonel Pickering did not perpetrate the shamefully ridiculous 
manoeuvre of running backwards with his forty men in front of a bat- 
talion of regular troops marching in quick time." Mr Hblmao was at 
that time 11 years old. 



Abijah Northey Esq^s Account of what he heard his Father relate. 

Colonel Leslie came in pursuit of some cannon which were at a 
blacksmith's shop, on the north side of the North Bridge, where they 
had been left to be repaired, and the iron work put upon the carriages. 
Where the cannon came from, or how many, or what became of them 
after being carried ofi" out of the way of the troops, Mr. Northey did 
not know. 

The northern leaf of the draw was raised, to stop the troops in their 
march, and the people on that side climbed upon the top of it by the 
help of the chains which held it, and sat astride there, as many as 
could do so, like hens at roost. 

When the alarm was given, men from the south side rushed over and 
raised the draw, and with the neighbors, who lived on the other side, 
made the collection there ; most of whom stood on a small wharf which 
jutted out from the east side of the bridge. Capt. Robert Foster was 
conspicuous among them. 

The Rev. Mr. Barnard tried to persuade the people upon the draw 
to let it down, as ho in the spirit of a christian minister was very 
anxious to prevent a collision ; he was answered, " We don't know you 
in the business, when Felt orders it 'twill be time enough." 

Mr. Felt during the whole affair kept close by Colonel Leslie, nar- 
rowly watching him in every movement and order. When Leslie 
ordered his troops into the gondolas, Felt ordered his men to scuttle 
them ; a scuffle ensued in which one or more of our citizens were 



43 

f^lightly ■\voimded,— cannot remember the name oranj-, or ilmt ho over 
heard. 

After tlie aceommodation had been arranged, Leslie asked Felt Avhy 
he stuck so near him all the time. Felt answered "Had your men 
lired, 'twas my purpose to have immediately seized and sprung with 
you into the channel." Capt. Northey who knew Felt afterwards 
remarked, " He could have done so, and drowned him and then swam off." 
The reckless spirits upon the draw blackguarded the soldiers by every 
epithet they could tliink of, and while it aggravated the soldiers to 
repeated threats that they would fire upon them, they still tantalized 
them by daring them to do it. The soldiers had been heated by a quick 
march, and during the delay (the day being very cold) they had become 

chilly and trembled violently, when one Teague, wlio M'as on the 

draw, cried out " I should think you were all tiddlers you shake so." 
The majority of the people however it is believed desired not to exasper- 
ate the troops but to overcome them by a determined and manly resis- 
tance. 

AVhen the alarm was first given, ]\Ir. Benjamin Daland mounted his 
horse and rode with all speed and alarmed the people of Danvers, where 
there was a company of cavalry who rode in every direction into the 
country and spread the alarm far and Avide. Daland returned from 
Danvers through the North fields in season to march off with the troops 
and riding up to Col. Leslie, with whom he was personally acquainted, 
he jeered him in these words, "Well Colonel, I think you have done 
right, for in a short time we shall have more men here than your 
soldiers have 1-ce in their heads." 

Col. Leslie had about 300 men with him. They marched about as 
far as Mason street. On this march in Northfields a woman opened, 
her window and gave them the length of her tongue. They threatened 
to shoot her if she did not desist. 

A company of militia commanded by Capt. Samuel Eppes arrived 
from Danvers, and as Col. Leslie's troops marched off, they were 
formed across Federal street, on the west side of North street, _ in 
double rank, and after the regiment had passed they formed in behind 
and marched thus to the bounds of the town in South Salem, where 
they met a Marblehead company, when the Danvers company returned. 
The Marblehead company formed in behind as they had done and 
marched by the music of the English. 

Capt. Northey says whenever his father spoke of the affair "it was 
aW Felt, Felt, Felt. '" He was the spirit on whom the crowd depended. 
Col. Pickering's regiment was forming in School street, now Washington 
street. Did not remember anything alwut Col. Mason. Capt Northey's 
father was at the bridge,— never heard him say anything of himself in 
connection with the occasion. Mr. William Northey mentioned in 
Mr Gavett's account was the brother of his father. 



Extract from a Manuscript Memoir of Col. David Mason, ivritten hy 
his daughter. 

In the summer of 1774, he [Col. Mason] was one of a committee to 
prevent any tea being brought into the town, [of Salem] or being sold, 



44 

atid I remember a large chest being smuggled into the town by a colored 
man, that was taken from him and brought to our house and put in my 
mother's chamber closet for safe keepins over night, and taken away the 
next day by the school boys, and burnt in the public square to their 
no small amusement. As a specimen of the feeling that prevailed 
among the female lovers of liberty, my mother was in feeble health, and 
could take but little nourishment excepting tea, and my father fearing 
she would sufler much in her health if deprived of it, proposed to pro- 
cure her the liberty of using it ; but she said no ! she would rather 
suffer any inconvenience than that it should be said, she was enjoying a 
privilege her husband was appointed to take from her friends and 
neighbors. 

Early in the autumn of this year there was a committee of safety 
appointed, by the legislature of Massachusetts, to make private prepar- 
ation for the gathering storm that they foresaw was soon to burst upon 
their heads ; and he was from this time actively engaged in collecting 
military stores for the use of the country ; and in November, 1774, re- 
ceived the appointment from this committee as Engineer, with a fixed 
salary, which I have often heard him say, was the first military ap- 
pointment in the revolutionary war. 

After this he purchased a number of iron cannon of a Col. Derby, of 
Salem, as I find the painting of seventeen carriages for these guns ac- 
counted for in his memorandum book, from which I take many of these 
notices and facts . Among other accoutrements wanted for these guns 
were flannel cartridges, which must be sewed very smooth and of course 
done by females. My father fearing to let more into the secret than 
■was absolutely necessary, engaged my mother though in very feeble 
health to cut out five thouhand of these cartridges, and set my sisters 
and myself to make them, and we were often locked up in a chamber 
for fear some of our prying mates or neighbors should find out the 
mature of our em2')loyraent : and undoubtedly the first instruments for 
the defence of our National liberty were made by ray sister and myself. 

In preparing carriages for these guns my father had employed a Capt. 
Foster to do the iron work, who had a shop on the north side of Dan- 
vers river, which skirts the North side of the town of Salem, over which 
was a draw bridge. In the progress of the work he had also employed 
an " old counlrymmi''' in wJiom he had great confidence, but who it 
proved soon after was not worthy of it. About the last of February, 
they had got a number of the carriages done, and the guns mounted, 
when this man came to him on a Saturday afternoon and requested his 
pay for his work, stating he had some pressing necessity for the money \ 
accordingly he paid him his due. The man then went directly to Bos- 
ton and gave information of what was going on under my father's direc- 
tions, to Gov. Gage, who immediately ordered Col. Leslie to embark 
with his regiment from the Castle, and land at Marblehead, and from 
thence march to Salem and take possession of these guns, in his Majes- 
ty's name. Accordingly they landed at Marblehead about 12 o'clock 
the next day, being Sunday ; but for reasons not known he did not get 
information till about 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when two of the 
selectmen came to him with the intelligence that these troops, 300 in 
number, were marching into the town ; and it was supposed it was to 
take possession of his guns ; — which he no sooner heard than he was 



45 

immediately upon his horse, and at the place of deposite to secure his 
treasure. 

The alarm was now given in the town, the bells were ringing, the 
drums beating, and the people in a state of great agitation. The troops 
had met with some little obstruction by the people breaking up a bridge 
about half a mile from the town. This however they soon repaired 
and marched into the public square with all their martial music, and 
colors flying, to the great terror of the women and the children, if to 
no others. In the mean time my father was busily engaged in securing 
his guns ; — it fortunately happened that near to these shops there was 
a piece of thick oak wood which was covered a considerable depth with 
dried leaves, there being no snow on the ground at the time. The guns 
were buried under these leaves, and the carriages otherwise supposed to 
be secured. 

After this was done he rode into the street where the troops had 
halted, and found Col. Leslie conversing with a young tory lawyer, who 
pointing with his cane in such a direction as he knew mvist lead him to 
the bridge. Seeing their manoeuvres he immediately returned to his 
post and with a number of others concerted measures to defeat their 
enterprize. They were now coming towards the bridge in full glee 
while the people in sullen silence stood prepared for them, and the in- 
stant Col. Leslie set his foot on the first half of the bridge my father 
ordered the other half to be drawn up, presenting him a chasm of forty 
feet, it luckily happening to be low water. On finding his progress ar- 
rested in such an unexpected manner the Colonel stamped and swore, 
ordering the bridge immediately to be lowered ; but that was all he 
could do, as there was no one disposed to obey him, but his own troops, 
and it was not in their power to do it : He then ordered some soldiers 
to get into several boats that lay in the river, and pass over and let 
down the bridge ; but as soon as this was perceived to be their design 
several young men who were the owners, sprung into them, and with 
axes knocked out the bottoms. This occasioned something of a scuffle 
and several were slightly wounded ; but the time'not being come for 
open hostilities to commence they took no other waj to force their pas- 
sage over the bridge. 

As all now seemed to be at a stand, not knowing what would next 
take place, my father mounted a ladder at the top of the draw and ad- 
dressed Col. Leslie, with whom he was personally acquainted, and ad- 
vised him to desist, as there were expresses gone out, and in a few hours 
there would be a thousand men on the ground, and probably his men 
would all be cut to pieces, should they once fire upon the people. He 
replied that he had orders to pass the bridge, and he would do it, if it 
cost him the life of every man he had ; but if he would order the 
bridge to be let down he would give him his word and honor to go over 
and repass it without molesting any person or property. My father 
then consulted with the people, and advised them to let him pass over, 
as he had full confidence in Col. Leslie's honor. Accordingly the draw 
was let down and they marched over ten or twelve rods and returned in 
the same order and back to Marblehead as rapidly as they could with- 
out running. For the failure of this enterprise, Col. Leslie was tried 
by a court-marshal and cashiered, but was afterwards restored to hia 
former rank.'' 



46 



la corroboration of the statement made in the foregoing account of 
the tea smuggled into town by a colored man, I subjoin the following, 
published in the Essex Gazette, under date of 

Salem, Oct. 4, 1774. 

Whereas a small cask (said to contain Bohea Tea) was brought from 
Boston yesterday in a wagon under my care ; in order to justify my 
conduct in the aifair would beg leave to inform the public, that on 
Sunday the 2d inst., a negro man, belonging to, or employed by Mrs. 
vSheaffe of Boston, came to me and inquired whether I had a wagon 
going to Salem the next day ; I answered, yes ; he said his mistress 
wanted to send a small cask. I told him the wagon was loaded, and 
could not carry it ; he replied the cask was small and very light, and 
that Mrs. Sheafle would take it kind of me to carry it. To oblige that 
lady, I consented (not knowing the contents) to bring it ; I have 
likewise the greatest reason to believe that the servants Avho drove the 
carriage- committed to my care were ignorant of the contents of the 
cask. 

And furthermore, I most solemnly declare I never saw the above 
mentioned cask until it was brought into School street, in this town, 
to be committed to the flames. 

(Signed) Benjamin Jackman, and sworn before 

Peter Frye, Jus. Peace. 



Extracts from an Account dictated by Mrs. Story, the mother of the late 
Judge Story, 

In the year 1774 some of the most influential men in the colonies 
received information that Gov. Gage had received orders and Wixs 
determined to disarm the colonists by seizing their arms andamunition. 
Many persons who were friendly to Great Britain, were determined 
to resist all acts of usurpation and tyranny on the pajrt of the crown. 
They did not believe the Governor would attempt to enforce this order, 
but were very watchful and jealous of-every movement made by him. 

Some tories in Salem gave Gov. Gage notice that there were some 
cannon and military stores in a certain place in Salem which they 
pointed out and described. On the 26th February, 1775, the Governor 
ordered from Castle "William, Lieut. Col. Leslie with the 64th regiment 
in a transport, to land at Marblehead, and from thence to march to 
Salem and seize the cannon and munitions of war. His orders were 
peremptory — he landed his troops upon Marblehead neck in a very quiet 
manner, expecting not to be discovered, or his movements suspected in 
such an obscure spot ; but he little knew the jealous watchfulness of 
the Americans ; by the time their feet touched the land a man went 
into the town of Marblehead who saw them land, and the alarm was 
immediately given by a dozen men running to the door of the new 



47 

meeting house ami beating the ahirm signal agreed upon, and crying 
out, " To arms — to arms ! " A person, on the watch, saw the soldiers 
come out of the neck lane [in] single file, [form] upon Eubier's plain, 
and then march to Salem, playing "Yankee doodle." Mrs. Story also 
states that after the draw was lowered. Col. Leslie and his men passed 
over and advanced upon the road the number of paces agreed upon, 
wheeled about, the music playing the old fashioned tunc of "///e ivorld^s 
turned upside ^/oit?rt," and marched to Marblehead neck, whence they 
embarked. 



From the Essex Gazette of Feb^y 28, 1775. 

As it is reported about this town, much to my injury, that I gave 
information of certain pieces of artillery, which was the occasion of a 
Regiment's marching to this place yesterday ; — I take tliis public 
method of acquainting the good people, that the character of an 
JnJor?ner, is of all characters the most odious to me, that 1 Avas in no 
way instrumental in bringing troops hither, and shall be ready to 
satisfy any one, who will call upon me, of my innocence. 

Salem, Feb. 27, 1775. Andrew Dalgleish. 

This man was one of the signers of the tory Address to Gov. Gage on 
his arrival in Salem, in June, 1774, and kept an English goods store in 
" King street," afterwards " Old Paved street," and was burnt out at 
the great fire of October 6th, 1774, when the Rev. Dr. Whitaker's 
meeting house, situate near Balch's corner, eight dwelling houses, the 
Custom House, and fourteen buildings occupied as stores, shops and 
barns, besides sheds and other small outhouses, were wholly destroyed. 

[Essex Gazette, Oct. 11, 1774. 



ERRATA. 

Page 1 — for February 28 read February 26. 
'« 8 — 14 lines from the bottom, for secretely read secretly. 
«' 11 — 12 " " " top, for county read country. 
" 37 — 15 " " '• bottom, for tvere xQnd was. 



\ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



I mil 

011 699 920 ll 



